Former Colts Neck High School great Ashley Higginson celebrates her gold medal win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for Team USA at the Pan American Games in Toronto July 24. It was her biggest international victory. Ashley Higginson scored the biggest international win of her track and field career when she captured the gold medal in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Pan American games.
The former Colts Neck High School great set a new Pan Am Games record with her victory July 24 in Toronto, Canada, in 9:48.12. She led an American first and second finish in the race with teammate Shalaya Kipp posting a time of 9:49.96, which was also under the former meet record of 9:51.13 set by Brazil’s Sabine Hietling in 2007.
Two-thousand meters into the race, the pace was moderate and the field was very crowded at the front. Higginson, who runs professionally for Saucony, then put on a surge with 900 meters to go. She did the same with 600 to go, and only Kipp was with her. Higginson stretched her lead, picking up the pace once again on the bell lap.
After her triumph, Higginson got to take a victory lap with her teammate waving the American flag and then stand atop the podium as the National Anthem was played.
More than 6,000 athletes from 41 nations in the Americas competed in this year’s Pan Am Games in a total of 36 sports.
Colts Neck’s head cross-country and track coach, Jim Schlentz, said Higginson told him after her win, “This is contagious. It makes you want to come back and do it again.”
“I’m very excited for her,” he said.
The win gives Higginson, who was a multiple All-American at Princeton University before turning pro, momentum heading into next year’s Olympic Trials. A top-three finish there would put her on the 2016 USA Olympic Team.
In 2013, Higginson represented the U.S. at the World Track and Field Championships in Moscow, Russia.
Schlentz pointed out that Higginson, who won individual and relay national titles with the Cougars, said the reason for her success is that she is someone who, when she commits to something, gives it everything she has.
“She is so self-focused on what is important to her,” her high school coach said. “She doesn’t let anything get in her way. She’s so driven.”
Higginson wasn’t the only area standout to strike gold in Toronto. Former Freehold High School All-American Emily Wold was a member of the U.S. Women’s Field Hockey team that won the gold medal. The U.S. defeated Argentina, 2-1, in the championship game. Team USA went 6-0 in the tournament and outscored its opponents, 39-1.
By reaching the Pan Am finals, the U.S. automatically qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Wold will be a senior at the University of North Carolina this year. She is already a three-time All-American.