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Courtney Frerichs

Quick Info

PBs

Bio

Courtney grew up in Nixa, Missouri, where <insert info about high school here?>.

Anyway, she attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City for two years, running the 3000m and the 5000m. Her freshman year, she did well indoors, placing 4th and 10th in her Division I conference in those the events indoors, and running at the NCAA Outdoor 3000m Steeplechase, placing 80th. However, at the 2012 USA Junior Championships, she placed 2nd. This allowed her to compete internationally at the World Junior Championships, where she placed 16th (10:35).

The next year she improved considerably, winning both the 3000m (9:51) and 5000m (17:02) in the Summit League conference indoors. She also won both the Summit League 3000m Steeplechase (10:15), as well as the 5000m (16:42) outdoors that same year. She improved from 80th to 6th at the NCAA championships.

In 2013, when her coach, James Butler, took a new job, Courtney transferred to the University of New Mexico to follow him, partly to stay with the coach she trusted, and partly to join a team of runners instead of being isolated. It worked -- at the Western Athletic Conference, she placed 2nd in XC, and indoors won both the 3000m (9:35) and 5000m (17:45) races yet again. She red-shirted spring, but raced the steeplechase at the 2014 USA Championships, placing 6th (9:43).

In her fourth year, Courtney won the WAC XC meet, won the WAC indoor 3000m and 5000m, and won the WAC outdoor steeplechase and 5000m. She placed 2nd at the NCAA outdoor championships in the steeplechase (9:31), and placed 7th at the 2015 USA Championships (9:46). In her fifth year, ineligible for an indoor season, Courtney won the NCAA Outdoor steeplechase (9:24), breaking the NCAA record set by Jenny Simpson a few years earlier.

Courtney also placed 2nd at the 2016 USA Championships with a time of 9:20, qualifying her for the Olympic Team. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, she placed third in her heat, getting an automatic qualifier for the finals. She ended up placing 11th (9:22).

Courtney joined the Bowerman Track Club and began training under Jerry Schumacher with Colleen Quigley. At the 2017 USA Championships, Courtney placed 2nd (9:22), securing her spot on the Worlds team with fellow 2016 Olympians Emma Coburn and Colleen Quigley.

At the 2017 World Championships in London, Courtney raced an extremely smart race, keeping with Coburn and the lead group for most of the race, surging into the lead at some point in the last lap, and in a very strong move over the last water barrier, she found herself sprinting towards the line in second place. “Smart race” is sort of a weird way to put it, considering she PR’d by 16 seconds, broke the American Record by 4s, and became the 7th fastest woman in this event in history, but she helped complete the first 1-2 finish by Americans in a championship distance race since 1912.

Doping History

None

Training and Nutrition

• Courtney trains with Colleen Quigley, who she says is the faster of the two, while Colleen is the stronger of the two. Under Jerry, she has been working on speedwork, dropping her 400m PR from 65s to 61s.

• She just broke 9:20 at the Prefontaine Classic a couple months ago, and now has a PR of 9:03.

• She strongly identifies her success with running as a team. She transferred schools because of it, and travels everywhere with the Bowerman Babes, using #bettertogether in most of her posts.

• Nutrition?

Anecdotes to tell your friends

• Jason Bourne (well, David Webb) is from Nixa, Missouri as well. True story.

• She writes a blog about her training, if you’re interested.

Upcoming Races

Still celebrating the last one, I think

1. Anecdotes/stories you’d like to share? Thoughts on Courtney in general?
   
2. Did you watch the Worlds race? What was your favorite race of the last week?
   
3. Do you train better with a team, or individually?
   
4. Anything else you’d like to add?