Arizona's Amy Skieresz (6), right, leads Providence's Marie McMahon (255) and Michigan's Katie McGregor (190) en route to winning the women's 5,000 meters during the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., Friday June 5, 1998. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)
Skieresz dominated as UA's No. 1 runner
Brigetta Barrett won a silver medal at the Olympics and is a collegiate record holder; Brianna Glenn has six school records; and Meg Ritchie, Tanya Hughes and Carla Garrett all have impressive resumes of their own.
But not like Skieresz.
“She’s pretty amazing,” UA coach Dave Murray said in 1996. “The longer she goes, the faster the times are.”
Skieresz was the first woman to win four NCAA titles in one year. She holds two Arizona individual records (5,000-meter indoor, 10,000-meter outdoor), and held the 5,000-meter record for 17 years.
She was just as impressive in conference, too, winning seven Pac-10 titles, four of them in cross country and two Pac-10 Track athlete of the year awards,
Plus, Skieresz was a 10-time All-American and won NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 1997 and 1998.
“She’s running well beyond our expectations,” Murray said when Skieresz was still a Wildcat. “When she came in, we expected her to come in as the No. 2 or 3 runner, but we didn’t expect her to dominate as our No. 1, because we had so many good runners.”
