CU legend Jenny Simpson named to inaugural USTFCCCA Collegiate Athletics Hall of Fame
Former Colorado track and field star Jenny (Barringer) Simpson has been named to the inaugural United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Collegiate Hall of Fame, the association announced Thursday.
Simpson won four NCAA championships, three in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and one in the indoor 3,000, during her collegiate career. She broke six NCAA records and seven school records in 2009 alone, several of which still stand today, including the 5,000-meter record.
Simpson is still the only woman to post under four minutes (3:59.89) in the 1,500 in NCAA history, which she ran at the prestigious Prefontaine Classic, finishing second to Ethiopia’s Gelete Burka by 0.01 seconds. She was the only collegiate athlete in the race.
While competing collegiately, she also enjoyed success on the international stage, mostly in the steeplechase, making two world teams and competing at the Olympic Games in 2008. Following graduation, she was named the inaugural winner of the Bowerman Award and was later named the recipient of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award.
She won the 2011 World Championship in the 1,500 and was the silver medalist in 2013 and 2017. Simpson captured an Olympic medal in 2016 when she won the bronze medal in the 1,500 in Rio. Simpson has won a total of nine USA track championships.
Simpson is one of 30 athletes in the inaugural class and the only one to win the Bowerman. Eligibility for the induction was limited to men that finished their career before 2000 and women before 2010. Simpson is one of nine women inducted and joins fellow rival Sally Kipyego and ASU standout Jackie Johnson as the only women that competed in the 2000s.
The induction class, which was comprised of athletes based solely on their collegiate accomplishments, have a combined 205 NCAA titles, 99 world records and 19 Olympic Gold Medals.
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