COACHING CHANGE FOR BARRINGER
COACHING CHANGE FOR BARRINGER
By David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission
On
the heels of signing her first sponsorship agreement with New Balance
last month, Jenny Barringer has made another important move in the
early stages of her professional running career. The USA steeplechase
record holder has decided to change coaches, moving to former 1500m
Olympian Juli (Henner) Benson, the head cross country and assistant
track coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
Barringer had been coached by the University of Colorado's Mark
Wetmore, her college coach.
"As you can imagine, this is a
difficult change," Barringer told Race Results weekly in a telephone
interview. "I came back to the University of Colorado and Mark and I
had an opportunity to spend some time to discuss my future. We both
agreed that he had a big job and I'm a big job, so we decided to move
in different directions."
Under Coach Wetmore, Barringer set
NCAA records for 1500m (3:59.90), the indoor mile (4:25.91), indoor
3000m (8:42.03), 5000m (15:01.70), and steeplechase (9:25.54). She also
finished ninth in the 2008 Olympic Games, and fifth at the 2009 IAAF
World Championships in the steeplechase. It was in that world
championships race where Barringer ran her American record 9:12.50.
Barringer was quick to point out how much Wetmore's coaching had meant to her career.
"He's
an incredible college coach," she said. "He's proved that over and
over again. Coaching a post-collegiate is a different job and takes a
lot of time and a lot of energy. We've decided it's best for me to
find a professional's coach."
Benson said that she had not been
actively looking to coach Barringer. She bumped into Barringer at the
Air Force All-Comers meet on January 15, and was reminded that she had
written an encouraging e-mail to Barringer but had never sent it
because she didn't have the athlete's new e-mail address.
"I was
running around like crazy doing things for the meet and I ran right
into her," Benson recounted in a telephone interview from Colorado
Springs. "I gave her a big hug and said I have an e-mail for her."
In
subsequent conversations with Barringer, and her manger Ray Flynn,
Benson learned that Barringer was excited to explore her talents
further in the middle distances, especially after her surprising
sub-4:00 1500m at the Prefontaine Classic last year.
"Upon
talking to her I realized that she was looking to explore the 1500 side
of things more," Benson said. "It was a really good fit."
Barringer agreed. "I'm really excited about it. She was an incredible athlete herself."
Wetmore's
devotion to building an athlete's aerobic base will serve Barringer
well, Benson said. But she also said that Wetmore had helped develop
Barringer's fierce competitive mindset.
"From what I've seen
Coach Wetmore has done a phenomenal job in all regards," Benson
remarked. "Not just getting her to a high fitness level. It seems
that he had a vision of what this athlete could do. He did a great job
of preparing her both physically and mentally. As we've seen, she's
never backed down from any international competition. He's done a
phenomenal job.'
Barringer said that the coaching change would
be immediate, but that it would take some time for her make the full
transition to training in Colorado Springs which is 97 miles (156 km) south of Boulder. Barringer's fiancée, Jason Simpson, whom she plans
to marry next October, lives and works in Boulder.
"I'm not sure
exactly what the timeframe is, but I'll be training at least part-time
in Colorado Springs," Barringer concluded. "The move will be a very
personal decision for Jason and I in the upcoming weeks."
As for Benson, she's ready to dive in, immediately.
"You dream of opportunities like this," she said. "I really plan to leave no stone unturned."
ENDS
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