WSU freshman Rebekah Topham wins K.T. Woodman steeplechase
It was only a matter of time before the steeplechase and Rebekah Topham met.
When the Griswold, Iowa native arrived last summer as a freshman on the Wichita State track and field team, it was agreed upon by her and her coaches that Topham would give the event a try in the spring.
“I did the 400 hurdles in high school and I’m a distance runner,” Topham said. “So I was like, ‘Hey, the steeple has hurdles and distance, so that sounds good to me.’ I wanted to try it at least once.”
Expect the steeplechase to be a staple for Topham after her debut race Friday evening at Cessna Stadium placed her in the record books. Her time of 10 minutes, 41.45 seconds not only won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the K.T. Woodman Classic, but landed her seventh all-time in Wichita State history.
“It didn’t surprie me,” WSU coach Steve Rainbolt said. “She’s a talent, a legitimate, significant, middle-distance-running talent. So yeah, I have stopped being surprised by her accomplishments.”
Records are nothing new to Topham.
When she was nine years old in Iowa, her father took her to her first track meet. One year later, at the age of 10, Topham ran an 18:42 in the 5,000-meter run at the Kansas Relays to break the world record time for her age.
When she reached high school, as a home-schooler, Topham became a four-time state champion in cross country and holds the Class 1A record in Iowa for gold medals (nine) in a career, as well as the fastest 1,500-meter time.
“She was something of a child prodigy,” Rainbolt said. “Then she went through a leveling-off period in her teens where she didn’t improve year-by-year as much because she had gotten so good as such a young girl. We knew we would still love to have her in our program and now she’s back to improving again.”
When it was decided that this would be the week to try to the steeplechase, Topham went to work in practice. She was confident she could handle the seven laps around the track and the 28 hurdles that come with it, but she knew she needed work on clearing the water barrier on each lap.
Sure enough, on Friday night, the only shaky moments during her race came when she was going over the barrier. She still jumps down off the barrier on both feet, which takes more energy to recover from than landing in stride.
“There’s something about jumping into the water that just kind of spooks some athletes,” Rainbolt said. “She’s struggling to figure that part out and I say struggling to figure it out, but she’s only run one race. She’s got time. She’s long-legged and athletic, she’ll figure out that water barrier.”
And once adjustments are made, precious seconds will be shaved off her time. Considering Friday’s weather conditions were far from pleasant, as Topham had to run through a stiff wind, there is even more time that can be dropped.
So if her first race was good enough to put her in the record books, then how good can Topham be in the steeplechase with a few more tries?
“I don’t know what I can expect because it’s something I’ve never done before,” Topham said. “That’s what makes it exciting. I honestly think I can still go faster, especially once I get those water barriers down. I’m just not used to it right now, but I’ll get there.”
Friday’s portion of the meet ended with another top performance, as WSU junior Sidney Hirsch ran the sixth-fastest 10,000-meter time in Wichita State history in 35 minutes, 31.65 seconds to win the event.
Other notable performances from WSU on Friday included Brady Johnson winning the male’s 10,000-meter race in 29:21.39, Emilea Finley winning the women’s 5,000-meter race in 17:22.83, and freshman Carlea Holt throwing 150 feet in the javelin to place fifth.
This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 11:14 PM with the headline "WSU freshman Rebekah Topham wins K.T. Woodman steeplechase."