April 2, 2001
TEMPE, Ariz. -- With her winning performance in women's 3000m steeplechase at the Stanford Invitational this past Saturday, Arizona State sophomore Lisa Aguilera not only set a collegiate record, but logged the fastest time in the world this year.
Aguilera's time of 10:08.85 was almost five seconds better than the previous best time in the world this season, 10:13.43, clocked by Melissa Rollison from Australia. Aguilera also broke the previous collegiate record time of 10:21.8 set by BYU's Courtney Meldrum in 1997, and now ranks sixth on the all-time American list.
The women's 3000m steeplechase world record holder is Christina Iloc-Casandra from Romania with a time of 9:40.20, while the American record holder is Elizabeth Jackson with a time of 9:57.20.
Last Saturday marked the first time Aguilera has competed in the 3000m steeplechase.