New event, same Olympic dream for Galaviz

Since the tender age of 8, Lisa Galaviz has had Olympic dreams.

The steeplechase, however, wasn't part of her second-grade vocabulary. Back then, she was into tumbling.

Twenty years later, she likes her chances of being an Olympian in Beijing this summer.

If, as expected, Galaviz, 28, earns a top-three finish among Americans in the next 10 days at the U.S. track and field Olympic trials at the University of Oregon, she'll compete in the first Olympic competition for women's steeplechase this August.

Time was, she didn't even know about it, let alone want to do it.

"I always thought I'd go to the Olympics for gymnastics," said the 2005 Arizona State graduate and Gilbert resident. "I didn't know it was going to be running. It was gymnastics or dance, I thought flipping was way cooler than dancing."

Galaviz played basketball and ran track at Peoria Centennial High, but coaches guided her away from the steeplechase because of injury risks, and it wasn't part of a high school-sanctioned meet; only in club circuits.

When she reached ASU, she was doing more hurdles and running longer distances (1,500 and 3,000 meters). When the steeplechase became a staple in women's track and field her sophomore year, her previous success at running and hurdles merged smoothly, and she became a two-time Pac-10 champion.

She's taken herself up another notch since. Though still the American women's record holder (9 minutes, 28.75 seconds last year in Belgium), Galaviz expressed doubts it would last through these trials.

If she doesn't break it, someone such as the University of Colorado's Jenny Barringer or the University of Michigan's Anna Willard might. Barringer won the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in a collegiate record 9 minutes, 29.2 seconds at the NCAA championships earlier this month. It is the fastest time ever run on American soil and the second-fastest time (behind Galaviz's U.S. record) run by an American woman. The previous record of 9:38.08 was set by Willard in 2007.

Galaviz was part of the first major championship in international women's competition in 2005, where she finished third.

Then came a fourth-place finish in Osaka, Japan, at the World Team Championships last year. It wasn't good enough and a new focus emerged.

"It kind of stung," said ASU cross-country coach Louie Quintana, who also coaches Galaviz and former Sun Devil Aaron Aguayo (a Phoenix Mountain Pointe graduate) on the side.

"She was geared to that training and didn't have the focus to make the team last year. She sat in the field and tried to let experience take over and come back, but she never did. It was probably a lack of preparation on my part to get her ready."

Quintana said that's not a concern now.

"There's not a lot of coaching at this point. I'm a sounding board and design workouts," he said. "She's dialed in and knows what she needs to get done."

Galaviz also relies on her husband, Anthony, a former hurdler on the ASU men's team earlier this decade. Their first "date" was a four-mile run, which he won, until she declared herself the winner when he threw up eggs and rice from earlier in the day.

The "gutsy" display still warranted a second date.

"At least I thought so," she said.

Proof enough she knows what she wants.

"Nervous and excited," she said, when asked her feelings heading into the trials. "I know it's not a guarantee I'll be there even though I feel I have a really good shot."

Local athletes to watch at Olympic trials

Aaron Aguayo (3,000 steeplechase): Phoenix Mountain Pointe and ASU grad likely to miss trials due to injuries.

Kyle Alcorn (steeplechase): ASU senior and Oregon-transfer was two-time All-American.

Tai Battle (discus): Recent ASU grad

Hannah Carson (javelin): The Mesa-area high school sophomore won the Nike outdoor national championship last week.

John Godina (discus): 36-year-old Mesa resident and three-time outdoor world champion is an all-time legend for USA, but hampered by injuries past three years.

Amy Hastings (5,000, 10,000): Former ASU All-American has relocated to Flagstaff to train. Her best shot will likely come in the 10k.

Breaux Greer (javelin): Scottsdale resident has the best throw going into trials by nearly 24 feet.

Jacquelyn Johnson (heptathlon): Seven-time All-American is first ever to win four national champions in heptathlon.

Dwight Phillips (long jump): ASU grad in 2000 won Olympic gold in 2004, and is 3-time USA outdoor champion.

Jessica Pressley (shot put): Knee injury not enough to prevent first trip to trials.

Trevell Quinley (long jump): ASU grad in 2005 and two-time All-American was part of 2007 World Championships.

Melinda Sallins (400 hurdles): Mesa resident seeks first trip to Olympic Games.

Sara Slattery (5,000 and 10,000): Better known as Sara Gorton while she dominated the state at Mountain Pointe High School. She’s gunning for first Olympic trip.

April Steiner Bennett (pole vault): Mountain View High alum should be among five or six battling for two spots behind U.S. record holder Jen Stuczynski.

Sarah Stevens (shot put): Anchor for next year’s ASU squad joins Whiting and Pressley.

Ryan Whiting (shot put): ASU redshirt sophomore coming off third All-American honor at NCAA championships.

What is the steeplechase?

A 3,000-meter race that features a total of 28 jumps (or landings) over wooden barriers (36 inches high for men, 30 inches for women), Unlike hurdles, the barriers don’t move if they’re hit, so runners will sometimes step on top of them to cross over. Seven of these jumps occur over water, which pools in a pit beyond the barrier and slopes upward. The water is 28 inches deep near the barrier and becomes shallower farther away, so better hurdling ability is an advantage to allow for a shallow water landing.
Origin: The event originated in the British Isles, where runners raced from one town’s steeple to the next, while runners invariably had to leap across creeks and low stone walls along the way. It’s been an Olympic sport for men for the past century, while the 2008 Summer Games will mark the debut as a women’s event.