Kerri Gallagher
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Born | May 31, 1989 Arlington, Virginia |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track |
| Event(s) | 1500 meters, mile |
| College team | Fordham |
| Turned pro | 2011 |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 800 meters: 2:02.63[1] 1500 meters: 4:03.56[1] |
| Updated on August 31, 2015 | |
Kerri Gallagher (born May 31, 1989) is an American middle-distance runner who specialises in the 1500-meter run. She began to focus on running full-time in 2012 and consistently improved over the following years, resulting in a third-place finish at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2015. She competed collegiately for Fordham University.
Running career
[edit]High school
[edit]Born to John and Patricia Gallagher, she grew up in New York City, hometown of Belle Harbor, New York and attended Bishop Kearney High School in Brooklyn.[2] From a sporting family, several of her siblings took up running.[3] While at Bishop Kearney, her coach was John Lovett, who was friends with Matt Centrowitz. This friendship eventually resulted in Gallagher's post-college link-up with training partner Lauren Centrowitz.[3]
Collegiate
[edit]She went on to enroll at Fordham University, taking a degree in mathematics.[2] She competed for the Fordham Rams collegiate sports team while there and in 2010 won the 800-meter run at the Atlantic 10 Conference championships and was runner-up over 1000 m at the indoor Eastern College Athletic Conference championships. In her final year she was runner-up in the 800 m at the indoor ECAC championships and winner of the Atlantic 10 1500 m. She ended her collegiate career with bests of 2:07.61 minutes for the 800 m a 4:20.25 minutes for the 1500 m.[4] Her 800 m best was a school record and she served as the school's track team captain in 2010 and 2011.[5]
Post-collegiate
[edit]After college, she began working in the finance sector at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney but changed her mind and chose to focus on running full-time, training under coach Matt Centrowitz with the New Balance Pacers Track Club.[6] She worked with Centrowitz as a women's track assistant coach at the American University.[5]
She set her sights on qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics, but failed in that attempt, later saying "I didn't have a great understanding of professional running and what it takes to make an Olympic team."[3] She ended the season as a much improved runner, however, with bests of 2:06.73 and 4:16.07 for the 800 m and 1500 m, and had a win at the Army Ten-Miler.
The following year she improved her bests in all distances from 800 m to 10 miles, including a 1500 m win at the Victoria International Track Classic in 4:09.64 minutes and a course record of 54:56 minutes at the Army Ten-Miler. She competed for the first time at national level and placed fifth in the 1500 m at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[4]
Gallagher made her debut in the IAAF Diamond League at the 2014 adidas Grand Prix in New York, coming eighth with an 800 m best of 2:05.91 minutes. Her improvement over 1500 m stalled, having a best of 4:09.99 minutes that year, but she knocked over twenty seconds off her 3000 meters best with 9:07.39 minutes. She had a third straight win at the Army Ten-Miler.
Her breakthrough into the world elite came at the 2015 Penn Relays, where her 4:34.42 minutes win over the mile run was a world-leading time. Entering the 1500 m at the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she set a personal record of 4:08.70 minutes in the qualifiers and, in a more tactical final, placed third overall to qualify for her first world championships team. She achieved the qualifying standard with another best of 4:03.56 minutes to win at the Meeting Sport Solidarieta in Lignano – her first win in Europe.[7] She had her first race against the world's elite at the Herculis Diamond League meet in Monaco and placed sixth.[3]
Kerri Gallagher finished runner-up behind Shannon Rowbury at the 2016 NYRR Wanamaker Mile in a personal record 4:26.18 (#7 U.S. woman all-time indoors).[8] In July, Gallagher placed 23rd in the 1500 meters in 4:22.47 at 2016 United States Olympic Trials (track and field).[9]
Personal records
[edit]- 800 meters – 2:02.63 min (2015)
- 1500 meters – 4:03.56 min (2015)
- Mile run – 4:26.18 min (2016)
- 3000 meters indoor – 9:07.39 (2014)
- Two miles indoor – 9:58.77 min (2015)
References
[edit]- ^ a b All-Athletics. "Profile of Kerri Gallagher". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
- ^ a b Kerri Gallagher. TeamUSA. Retrieved on 2015-08-05.
- ^ a b c d Gambaccini, Peter (2015-06-22). Kerri Gallagher: From Running Dropout to World Championships Team Member. Runners World. Retrieved on 2015-08-05.
- ^ a b Kerri Gallagher. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2015-08-05.
- ^ a b Kerri Gallagher Archived 2019-01-24 at the Wayback Machine. American University. Retrieved on 2015-08-05.
- ^ Abrahamson, Mitch (2012-05-06). Kerri Gallagher, former runner at Bishop Kearney and Fordham University, quits job to pursue dream of running in Olympics. New York Daily News. Retrieved on 2015-08-05.
- ^ Bellino, Meg (2015-07-07). Women's 1500 (Kerri Gallagher hits IAAF A Standard, 4:03.56!) Archived 2015-08-10 at the Wayback Machine. Flotrack. Retrieved on 2015-08-05.
- ^ "Kerri Gallagher - Athlete: Bring back the mile". bringbackthemile.com. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ "2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Results - Track & Field - 6/30/2016 to 7/10/2016 Eugene, Oregon". USATF.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
External links
[edit]
- Living people
- 1989 births
- Sportspeople from Arlington County, Virginia
- Sportspeople from Queens, New York
- Track and field athletes from New York City
- American female middle-distance runners
- Fordham Rams women's cross country runners
- World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
- Fordham Rams women's track and field athletes
- American Eagles track and field coaches