Photo by: Submitted photo
Opportunity Awaits WVU’s McCabe In Oregon Next Week
June 02, 2021 05:07 PM | Track & Field, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It's been a pretty good couple of months for West Virginia University redshirt freshman track standout Ceili McCabe.
Since the end of February, Ceili, pronounced Kay-Lee, anchored the distance medley relay team that defeated fourth-ranked Oklahoma State to win the Big 12, won the steeplechase at the Big 12 outdoor championships last month, and then last weekend, qualified for NCAA nationals in Eugene, Oregon, in the steeplechase with a third-place finish at NCAA East Regionals in Jacksonville, Florida.
Her time of 9:51.81 there broke All-American Amy Cashin's school-record time of 9:58.75, which was established in 2018 at the NCAA outdoor championships.
McCabe and Cashin are the only two runners in school history to break the 10-minute barrier in the steeplechase.
And while it took Cashin five full years at WVU to reach that mark, McCabe has done it in less than a half-dozen college races. Prior to WVU, the Vancouver, British Columbia, resident did the steeplechase just once or twice in high school. She hasn't even begun to scratch the surface of her potential as a steeplechaser and yet she has already qualified for nationals as a freshman.
That's pretty remarkable.
West Virginia coach Sean Cleary estimates McCabe is a probably a full year or two behind where Cashin, Jordan Hamric and Sarah Martinelli were developmentally in the event during their outstanding Mountaineer careers. Each had multiple years of training before qualifying for NCAAs.
"Ceili ran one 3K steeplechase in high school, and her first one here was six weeks ago, so she's pretty much an infant in terms of her development," Cleary stated.
"It's not something I had ever planned to do," McCabe admitted. "My senior year, my club coach decided it might be a good time to try it. I ended up quite liking it so it was something Sean thought I could pursue in college."
What makes McCabe so suitable for this event is her outstanding footspeed and overall athleticism. Her father, Bob, was once a rugby player at the University of British Columbia and Ceili participated in multiple sports while attending Little Flower Academy.
Choosing to focus solely on the steeplechase so late in her prep career was an interesting decision that could have potentially limited her U.S. collegiate opportunities.
"Traditionally, you are looking for kids that have good leg speed but also come from a multi-sport background for the steeplechase," Cleary explained. "Those are the ones that migrate to that event. You tend to look for that, and Ceili comes from a background of multiple sports.
"I think she flew under the radar with cross country; she had some success, but it wasn't big success – and for a distance runner she had great 400-meter speed," Cleary added. "I just figured everything between cross country and the 400 would probably just fall into place if we were able to get her. She and I had spoken about (the steeplechase) in recruiting, but I didn't think it would come this soon."
McCabe still has a ways to go to break into a crowded field of elite steeplechasers in this year's NCAA event, which takes place next week at brand new Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Prior to last weekend's four regional races, there were 15 runners with times better than 9:50, including BYU's Wayment Courtney with a national-best 9:31.37.
Because COVID-19 canceled the entire 2020 outdoor track season, Ceili is competing against an NCAA field that will include several sixth-year seniors, which means they could have a tactical advantage on her because of their experience.
McCabe didn't even have a qualifying time for regionals until a couple of weeks ago when Cleary had to arrange a Last Chance home meet at Mylan Park. They thought she had gotten it down at Eastern Kentucky in mid-April only to discover on social media a few days later that the course was too short and the times were disallowed by the NCAA.
"We set up the race at night, put on music, turned the lights on the track and made the steeplechase the final event of the day, and we had perfect conditions," Cleary said. "What it did was it meant Ceili couldn't run any other events, and we knew (Big 12 championships) were down the line so we had to get her qualified for the steeplechase. It did affect her season a little bit, but fortunately, it did allow Ceili to qualify for NCAA regionals."
McCabe admits she's still learning how to get over the hurdles and manage the water jump, the two aspects of the race most difficult to master. Right now, she basically makes up the ground with her footspeed in between the obstacles.
"I've been able to get over the hurdles and then make up the time, but it's definitely not the smoothest," she admitted. "The water jump is something I think a lot of people kind of struggle with, but it's definitely an important part of it. I think getting the hurdling down, I can improve a bit."
Actually, Cleary is confident McCabe can improve a lot in those two areas, which is why he's so excited for her future.
"I would say Ceili's fitness is at an A-level. Her commitment is at an A-level and her desire to race is at an A," he explained. "But her hurdling and water jump are probably more B to B-minus right now, compared to the elite steeplechasers.
"She's so young, and I can't see her not improving a lot over the next few years in just the running, but more than anything, I can see her really breaking through once we get her more time to practice," Cleary said.
He believes if McCabe continues to develop she has the potential to be an elite-level collegiate steeplechaser.
"She's only been running the steeplechase collegiately for two months, so needing to improve in the hurdles and the water jump is pretty normal," Cleary noted. "She's good enough now that it won't expose her, but if she wants to take a shot at realistically winning a national title in the next few years, then we're going to have to really refine it."
McCabe agrees.
"It's not something I'm perfect at right now, so it's going to take a ton of work to get more proficient at this event," she admitted.
Her goal next Thursday night when she runs the preliminary race is to find a way to beat 12 other runners to get into the finals. She's not concerned about times or anything else.
"Each stage you go up, you're going to have competitive girls around you where one day they are going to run a 9:57 and then the next it might be 9:47, so it's going to be very, very competitive," McCabe noted. "If I happen to get into the finals it's definitely going to be a quick time, but you can kind of get lucky in these races because they're so competitive and you pull through with times that you might not be expecting. It's really a good opportunity."
Weather conditions could also play a big role in the race. Despite growing up in Canada, McCabe demonstrated in Jacksonville last weekend that she can handle warm temperatures. Cleary said McCabe was one of the few runners who actually came on at the finish in the heat. He said it reminded him a little bit of WVU national champion Megan Metcalfe, who was a terrific hot-weather runner.
McCabe has already trimmed seven seconds off of her fastest time, so perhaps she has another seven seconds in her next week out in Eugene.
"If the race sets up properly and we get a little cooperation with the weather, there is definitely the opportunity for her to run faster," Cleary said.
Whatever happens next weekend, Ceili McCabe will be taking a lot of momentum into her sophomore season when cross country begins in the fall. West Virginia returned to NCAA nationals last year and Cleary is excited where things are heading right now for his distance program.
"We got that cross team back to nationals last fall, and we finally rebuilt the DMR (distance medley relay)," he said. "That's fun because those were the two areas that we sort of built the program around, and now we just need to add some more depth around it.
"We've got some really good young middle-distance runners that we redshirted this year; they are tremendous young talents – so it's going to be a nice group moving forward," Cleary said.
Since the end of February, Ceili, pronounced Kay-Lee, anchored the distance medley relay team that defeated fourth-ranked Oklahoma State to win the Big 12, won the steeplechase at the Big 12 outdoor championships last month, and then last weekend, qualified for NCAA nationals in Eugene, Oregon, in the steeplechase with a third-place finish at NCAA East Regionals in Jacksonville, Florida.
Her time of 9:51.81 there broke All-American Amy Cashin's school-record time of 9:58.75, which was established in 2018 at the NCAA outdoor championships.
McCabe and Cashin are the only two runners in school history to break the 10-minute barrier in the steeplechase.
And while it took Cashin five full years at WVU to reach that mark, McCabe has done it in less than a half-dozen college races. Prior to WVU, the Vancouver, British Columbia, resident did the steeplechase just once or twice in high school. She hasn't even begun to scratch the surface of her potential as a steeplechaser and yet she has already qualified for nationals as a freshman.
That's pretty remarkable.
West Virginia coach Sean Cleary estimates McCabe is a probably a full year or two behind where Cashin, Jordan Hamric and Sarah Martinelli were developmentally in the event during their outstanding Mountaineer careers. Each had multiple years of training before qualifying for NCAAs."Ceili ran one 3K steeplechase in high school, and her first one here was six weeks ago, so she's pretty much an infant in terms of her development," Cleary stated.
"It's not something I had ever planned to do," McCabe admitted. "My senior year, my club coach decided it might be a good time to try it. I ended up quite liking it so it was something Sean thought I could pursue in college."
What makes McCabe so suitable for this event is her outstanding footspeed and overall athleticism. Her father, Bob, was once a rugby player at the University of British Columbia and Ceili participated in multiple sports while attending Little Flower Academy.
Choosing to focus solely on the steeplechase so late in her prep career was an interesting decision that could have potentially limited her U.S. collegiate opportunities.
"Traditionally, you are looking for kids that have good leg speed but also come from a multi-sport background for the steeplechase," Cleary explained. "Those are the ones that migrate to that event. You tend to look for that, and Ceili comes from a background of multiple sports.
"I think she flew under the radar with cross country; she had some success, but it wasn't big success – and for a distance runner she had great 400-meter speed," Cleary added. "I just figured everything between cross country and the 400 would probably just fall into place if we were able to get her. She and I had spoken about (the steeplechase) in recruiting, but I didn't think it would come this soon."
McCabe still has a ways to go to break into a crowded field of elite steeplechasers in this year's NCAA event, which takes place next week at brand new Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Prior to last weekend's four regional races, there were 15 runners with times better than 9:50, including BYU's Wayment Courtney with a national-best 9:31.37.
Because COVID-19 canceled the entire 2020 outdoor track season, Ceili is competing against an NCAA field that will include several sixth-year seniors, which means they could have a tactical advantage on her because of their experience.
McCabe didn't even have a qualifying time for regionals until a couple of weeks ago when Cleary had to arrange a Last Chance home meet at Mylan Park. They thought she had gotten it down at Eastern Kentucky in mid-April only to discover on social media a few days later that the course was too short and the times were disallowed by the NCAA.
"We set up the race at night, put on music, turned the lights on the track and made the steeplechase the final event of the day, and we had perfect conditions," Cleary said. "What it did was it meant Ceili couldn't run any other events, and we knew (Big 12 championships) were down the line so we had to get her qualified for the steeplechase. It did affect her season a little bit, but fortunately, it did allow Ceili to qualify for NCAA regionals."
McCabe admits she's still learning how to get over the hurdles and manage the water jump, the two aspects of the race most difficult to master. Right now, she basically makes up the ground with her footspeed in between the obstacles.
"I've been able to get over the hurdles and then make up the time, but it's definitely not the smoothest," she admitted. "The water jump is something I think a lot of people kind of struggle with, but it's definitely an important part of it. I think getting the hurdling down, I can improve a bit."
Actually, Cleary is confident McCabe can improve a lot in those two areas, which is why he's so excited for her future.
"I would say Ceili's fitness is at an A-level. Her commitment is at an A-level and her desire to race is at an A," he explained. "But her hurdling and water jump are probably more B to B-minus right now, compared to the elite steeplechasers.
"She's so young, and I can't see her not improving a lot over the next few years in just the running, but more than anything, I can see her really breaking through once we get her more time to practice," Cleary said.
He believes if McCabe continues to develop she has the potential to be an elite-level collegiate steeplechaser.
"She's only been running the steeplechase collegiately for two months, so needing to improve in the hurdles and the water jump is pretty normal," Cleary noted. "She's good enough now that it won't expose her, but if she wants to take a shot at realistically winning a national title in the next few years, then we're going to have to really refine it."
McCabe agrees.
"It's not something I'm perfect at right now, so it's going to take a ton of work to get more proficient at this event," she admitted.
Her goal next Thursday night when she runs the preliminary race is to find a way to beat 12 other runners to get into the finals. She's not concerned about times or anything else.
"Each stage you go up, you're going to have competitive girls around you where one day they are going to run a 9:57 and then the next it might be 9:47, so it's going to be very, very competitive," McCabe noted. "If I happen to get into the finals it's definitely going to be a quick time, but you can kind of get lucky in these races because they're so competitive and you pull through with times that you might not be expecting. It's really a good opportunity."Weather conditions could also play a big role in the race. Despite growing up in Canada, McCabe demonstrated in Jacksonville last weekend that she can handle warm temperatures. Cleary said McCabe was one of the few runners who actually came on at the finish in the heat. He said it reminded him a little bit of WVU national champion Megan Metcalfe, who was a terrific hot-weather runner.
McCabe has already trimmed seven seconds off of her fastest time, so perhaps she has another seven seconds in her next week out in Eugene.
"If the race sets up properly and we get a little cooperation with the weather, there is definitely the opportunity for her to run faster," Cleary said.
Whatever happens next weekend, Ceili McCabe will be taking a lot of momentum into her sophomore season when cross country begins in the fall. West Virginia returned to NCAA nationals last year and Cleary is excited where things are heading right now for his distance program.
"We got that cross team back to nationals last fall, and we finally rebuilt the DMR (distance medley relay)," he said. "That's fun because those were the two areas that we sort of built the program around, and now we just need to add some more depth around it.
"We've got some really good young middle-distance runners that we redshirted this year; they are tremendous young talents – so it's going to be a nice group moving forward," Cleary said.
Players Mentioned
Mid-Distance
/ Track & FieldRoss Hodge | Utah Postgame
Thursday, February 19
Honor Huff & Chance Moore | Utah Postgame
Thursday, February 19
Riley Makalusky | Feb. 18
Wednesday, February 18
Mark Kellogg | Feb. 18
Wednesday, February 18
