Claire Stegall’s first collegiate cross country race was going exactly according to plan through 5,000 meters. In a competitive field at the Missouri Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 17, the Tennessee native was sitting in 32nd with a kilometer go. But the home stretch didn’t break her way, and she dropped to 62nd by the time she crossed the finish line.
Four months removed from that meet, and with her first three collegiate track races under her belt, Stegall has wiped away any memory of her first finish as a Gator. Once the races moved indoors, she quickly solidified herself as one of the best closers in the NCAA.
“Coach Palmer always says, ‘I want your last 200 [meters] to be your best 200,’” Stegall said. “One of the goals is always to have that last bit be your best bit, so I think I definitely have been able to develop that here.”
Stegall made good on Palmer’s wishes at the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Feb. 14. Racing in the invitational heats of the women’s mile, the freshman covered just over eight laps of the notoriously bouncy track in 4:25.91.
In a race that was executed almost perfectly, Stegall got faster every lap from the midway mark to the finish. Her fastest 200-meter split of the entire race came at the bell, as she covered the final lap in 32.21 seconds – exactly according to plan.
“400 meters to go, I was just like ‘What am I doing?’” Stegall said. “But then I was like, ‘God, give me the strength to finish strong,’ and I finished to the best of my ability.”
Stegall momentarily entered the ranks of the 10 fastest women in collegiate history, only to be bumped down to a tie for No. 11 all-time later in the evening. The woman she equalled on the collegiate all-time list is Jenny Simpson (formerly Barringer), whose identical 4:25.91 clocking stood as the collegiate record from 2009 until 2023. Simpson set that mark as a senior, just two years before becoming the second American woman to win a world outdoor title over 1,500 meters.
Unsurprisingly, Stegall’s run also broke Flomena Asekol’s program record, set at the same meet two years earlier.
“I was telling coach Palmer that I wasn’t sure I was ever going to run 4:25, just because you never know how things are going to go in this sport,” Stegall said. “Coming into college, my PR [personal record] was 4:36, so I’m just completely grateful.”
An 11-second improvement over the span of eight months is a huge leap forward, and, as Stegall mentioned, the transition from top high schooler to top collegian isn’t always as smooth as it has been for Stegall. She cites an intense focus on consistency between her and the coaching staff as the key to her stellar season.
“I had a lot of breaks in high school due to various injuries,” Stegall said. “Between cross country season and my track season was the first time I was able to have a completely normal break since my sophomore year of high school.”
In training, this consistency has come from maintaining a steady level of weekly mileage, as opposed to the drastic jump many runners see when entering the collegiate system. Stegall runs around 20 miles per week, with supplemental work coming via an anti-gravity treadmill and elliptical.
It’s difficult to see any real learning curve that Stegall has faced on the track through the early stages of her NCAA career. Her first race was a win in a historically fast 1,000-meter race. Her second was a blazing 3:15.74 1,200-meter leg to lead off the fourth-fastest distance medley relay in program history. Her third was her masterstroke in Boston. However, Stegall’s biggest takeaway from this trio of triumphs is to expect the unexpected.
“You can’t really have one particular race plan going in,” Stegall said. “My first race, for example, I was not anticipating leading. … But then it just kind of happened. It’s things like that, just being ready to lead or to follow, to push from the front or to kick in the last 50 meters.”
All that Stegall has learned from this season will be put to the test in College Station, Texas, as the Gators head to the SEC Indoor Championships from Feb. 26-28. She’s the fastest miler in conference history, but championship racing tests the poise of even the sport’s most seasoned veterans.
Even though experience may be working against her, Stegall is eager to prove her mettle against the region’s best. To come out on top in Texas, she knows exactly what she must focus on.
“For the specifics of being in the race and the tactics of that, just trusting my instincts,” Stegall said. “Coach Palmer… says don’t even really think about it, you have to just trust your immediate instincts, your first instinct and then just go with it.”
Contact Paul Hof-Mahoney at phof-mahoney@alligator.org and follow him on X at @phofmahoney.
Paul is a senior in his fourth semester on the track and field/cross country beat for The Alligator. In his free time, you can increasingly see him jogging around Gainesville or endlessly falling deeper down the rabbit hole that is track Twitter.
