Grace Fetherstonhaugh continues to excel in her college running career. She left the PAC-12 championship with not one title, but two PAC-12 wins–a first for Oregon State University. In fact, one PAC-12 title was a first, and a second title was just the cherry on top.
Since 1987, Oregon State Women’s Track and Field held zero individual titles in PAC-12 Track and Field Championships. In May, Fetherstonhaugh won the first two PAC-12 titles for OSU in the span of a day.
With a 9:39 in the 3000-meter steeplechase, and a 16:01 in the 5000 meters. Featherstonhaugh made history at the PAC-12 championships in Walnut, California last spring.
“Since I was a freshman I thought it would be really cool to win a PAC-12 title,” Fetherstonhaugh said.
This season, Fetherstonhaugh set a goal for herself.
“If I win the steeple, then there’s a good shot I could be able to carry my momentum through to try to win the 5k,” Fetherstonhaugh said. “I knew I was running on pretty tired legs from the day before. But I knew a lot of people were as well.”
The last woman to win back-to-back PAC-12 titles in the Steeplechase and the 5k before Fetherstonhaugh was Arizona State athlete, Kelly McDonald, in 2001.
“I was really excited about the steeple. I remember going down the home stretch, I could tell, I had a little bit of space,” Fetherstonhaugh said. “I had visualized it happening…I think to make anything happen you have to convince yourself that you can do it.”
She used that momentum the next day, but the conditions were harder at the PAC-12 meet than they had been in Stanford earlier this year when she ran her personal best in the 5k (15:30).
“It was also super hot in the middle of the day…the 5k that I ran earlier that year, which is where my personal best is from, it was a lot different, you’re hauling from the beginning,” Fetherstonhaugh said. “I was hoping it would be more tactical because I thought that would give me my best shot to win.”
Grace recognized that other racers have better kicks than her, but she brought that knowledge into her racing strategy. “I ended up tucking in somewhere around the front, sitting fifth or sixth for most of the race. With four laps to go, I tried to just gap the field,” Fetherstonhaugh said.
The OSU track and field team did well all around, fielding top competitors in other events as well.
“It was a really exciting weekend in itself. It was our team’s best overall PAC-12 championship,” Fetherstonhaugh said. “It was fun to build off that momentum.”
The team scored 55 points and ranked 8th at the conclusion of the meet.
She and Kaylee Mitchell, her teammate, race for the top spot in the Steeplechase at most meets. said Fetherstonhaugh. “We’re really good friends, we run together every day. It’s special getting to go into races together,” Fetherstonhaugh said.
“Especially…in the steeple, it’s a big advantage to have a training partner, because a lot of steeple chasers don’t, and it’s different hurdling right behind somebody, or beside them. I think that in itself is just super helpful.”
Fetherstonhaugh raced at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in July, placing third in the 3000m Steeplechase, and earning herself the 2nd spot in OSU’s records with a time of 9:31, a PR for her.
“Last year I raced at the Canadian Championships,” Fetherstonhaugh said. “It was the same track…the same groupings of people, so in some ways it’s familiar.”
Fetherstonhaugh put all of her effort into that meet, as it was her last shot to make the World Athletics Championships with Team Canada.
“I’ll be racing hopefully at World’s,” Fetherstonhaugh said. “Then racing cross country, and then racing indoor track.”
Fetherstonhaugh missed qualifying for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest by three spots, even with a PR at nationals, but she still looks forward to other competitions in her future.
“Feeling mega grateful to be training at altitude for the first time with Team (Canada) in beautiful St. Moritz in preparation for a different steeple race in a few weeks,” stated Fetherstonhuagh in a post on Instagram.
With just two seasons left at OSU, Fetherstonhaugh is prepared to embrace them.
“I thought realistically, I’d probably be going to school in Canada,” Fetherstonhaugh said of her earlier high school seasons. “My grade 11 track season, I had a breakout year, and coaches started reaching out.”
She “couldn’t be happier” with her decision to come to OSU for college racing. It’s a hard decision as a young teen, especially leaving the country.
“I’m lucky that my high school coach—he was great—didn’t overtrain me but made sure that I was always improving,” Fetherstonhaugh said. “I wanted a coach like that in college, and that’s exactly what Louie (Quintana) is… I think that’s the best thing for any distance runner.”
Quintana became head coach of OSU track and cross country in 2017, with the team improving every year since, according to Fetherstonhaugh.
“(Coach Quintana) has just been the big reason that our program has changed a lot. Once he came in he knew he wanted to put Oregon State on the map,” Fetherstonhaugh said. “Every year our team gets a little bit better…we’re getting lots of serious athletes…the culture’s changed a lot in a good way.”
With PRs of 2:11 in the 800, 15:30 in the 5000, and 4:11 in the 1500, Fetherstonhaugh’s upcoming seasons are looking promising with OSU.
Fetherstonhaugh added another honor to the list of accomplishments in her OSU career and was named a PAC-12 nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year on Aug. 16.
The 2023 outdoor season was Fetherstonhaugh’s final outdoor season with OSU. However, she will be back in the fall, as she has one season of eligibility remaining in both cross-country and indoor track and field.