Deena Drossin
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Deena
Drossin and her younger sister Lesley, during college. |
(Last Updated 9/00)
Deena Drossin discovered her talent for distance running early on, winning
her first age-group national cross country championship at age 12. Drossin
took up running at age 11, joining Las Virgenes Track Club after she switched
from ice skating to track.
In high school, she competed for running powerhouse Agoura High School (in Agoura Hills, California) where she was coached by Bill Duley. Drossin qualified for the Footlocker (then Kinney) National Cross Country Championships four times, with a best finish of 6th as a senior (1990). She earned three California cross country state championships and had track bests of 4:52.78 (1,600m) and 10:19.62 (3,200m).
Drossin went on to run for the University of Arkansas, where she was an eight-time All-American, earned seven Southeastern Conference titles and was runner-up at the 1992 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Despite all of her success, she never won an NCAA championship, and somewhere along the way, she lost her love of the sport.
After graduation, Drossin decided to move to Alamosa, Colorado where she could train under the tutelage of Coach Joe Vigil and make an attempt at reviving her passion for the sport. The transition was initially a bit rough; Drossin worked at the Campus Cafe coffee shop to earn rent, but in 1997, she began to see results, running well enough that she was able to become a full-time athlete. The move made all the difference, as Vigil helped Drossin set up a long-term training plan, and they gradually built her mileage from 40 miles per week to a high of 115.
In 1997, Drossin won her first of three 8k National Cross Country Championships ('97, '99 and '00), dethroning Lynn Jennings. As Drossin strings together more months and years of consistent training, her times have continued to drop. She finished 12th at the 2000 World Cross Country Championships despite getting stung in the throat by a bee near the start (and blacking out briefly). In 2000, she ran PRs of 14:51.62 (5,000m) and 31:51.05 (10,000m). She won the Olympic Trials at 10,000m and was runner-up to Regina Jacobs in the 5,000m. Leading up to the Games, she suffered an achilles injury and finished a completely uncharacteristic 18th (34:40.86) in her heat.
The isolated and remote town of Alamosa has proved to be the perfect training spot for Drossin. She has a great crop of training partners (mostly men) and has been able to focus completely on her training -- and regain that love of running. "When you're imprisoned by mountains, and the sun shines on you 355 days a year, it's hard not to find yourself. I've totally found myself -- out on long runs, in the mountains hiking the trails, or just sitting on my porch in the afternoon. It's just peaceful here," says Drossin.
Stats
Birthdate: 2/14/73 (Waltham,
MA - moved to CA before she was one month old)
High School: Agoura High School, Agoura Hills, CA (1991)
College: University of Arkansas (1996)
Height: 5-4
Coach: Joe Vigil
Current Residence: Alamosa, CO
Links
DeenaDrossin.com
- the Official Web Site
USATF
Bio (2000)
NBCOlympics.com
Bio
Pre-Olympic
interview from TnFMedia.com
2000 Olympic Trials Journal: Leading
Up
Brief Chats from Runner's World Online: March
2000 | February
2000 | February
1999 | January
1998
Drossin
profile
Drossin's
gone the distance
Dedicated
and Determined: Deena Drossin
Olympic
Size Dreams
Trackandfield.com Bio
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