The 2,000-meter steeplechase has been a tall order for Dylan Cashin, an East Hampton High School sophomore long-distance runner, if for no other reason than her high school does not have a steeplechase course – a lone barrier, upon which she leaps and pushes off into the long jump pit, sufficing, along with four intermediate hurdles spaced out around the 400-meter oval.
Nevertheless, Cashin, as the result of her performance in the recent Suffolk County Class B meet, bested by five seconds the event's national standard, thus qualifying her to compete in the Nike Outdoor Nationals' scholastic steeplechase race at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field over the June 16-19 weekend.
Her long-distance coach, Nicholas Deluca, had suggested that she give the steeplechase a try, Cashin said by phone this week. "I really enjoyed it the first time I did it, at Port Jefferson's Steeplefest in early May. It wasn't until the second time [at the Joe Brandi Relays at Connetquot] that I realized it was really hard . . . definitely more challenging than I'd thought."
The Brandi Relays was a two-day meet. She ran the 3,000 the first day, and did the steeplechase and ran the third leg of the 4-by-200 relay, a first for her, the next. She agreed that the steeplechase required endurance and speed, but it was not because of her speed that her coaches had inserted her into the 4-by-2. "They just needed a body," she said with a laugh.
Between the Steeplefest and the county meet, Cashin lowered her time considerably, from 8 minutes and 11 seconds to 7:40. The national qualifying time was 7:45. As for the five-lap race's strategy, she said, "You go out at a good pace and hold it, and after your fourth time over the water barrier you pick it up, with about 600 meters to go."
Cashin is the third East Hampton High School student – the other two being Ben Turnbull, who is now the boys track coach, and Ryan Fowkes, who recently set a 1,500-meter record at George Washington University – and the first female from here to qualify for the Nike nationals' steeplechase.
Which had been a goal of hers, she said. "It's every runner's dream to run at Hayward Field – it's the mecca of long-distance running."
Because the event is outside the school's purview, Cashin is getting no help with her expenses from the school district. The Old Montauk Athletic Club is paying for her hotel room in Eugene, Jenn Fowkes, OMAC's treasurer, said.
Further contributions were welcome, she added, suggesting that prospective donors contact either herself, at [email protected]; Kevin Barry, the boys cross-country coach, at [email protected]; Sharon McCobb, OMAC's president, at [email protected], or Diane O'Donnell, the girls cross-country coach, at [email protected].
