Jan Merrill
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| Born | June 18, 1956 | |||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Janice ("Jan") Melbourne Merrill (born June 18, 1956 in New London, Connecticut) is a retired female middle distance runner from the United States. She was the dominant long distance runner of the middle 1970s, a notable front runner, her uniform with the large "M" on her chest would usually break away to an insurmountable lead in domestic meets. She was equally untouchable in self-promotion or dealing with the media, often deferring to her coach, Norm Higgins.[1] At various points in time she held the American record in the women's 1500 metres (4:02.61 set on July 29, 1976) during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 3,000 metres and 5,000 metres.[2] She lost other record opportunities because the only times she could get a decent race in the United States was against men.[3]
She won the U.S. title at 1500 metres twice outdoors,[4] 3000 metres 4 times,[5] twice in the indoor mile,[6] twice in the indoor 2 mile[7] and twice in Cross Country.[8]
Merrill is now married hyphenating her name with Morin, and is a coach at Old Saybrook highschool. Jan Merrill could arguably go down as the best mid distance runner is US history.
Achievements
| Year | Tournament | Venue | Result | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing the  United States | ||||
| 1976 | Olympic Games | Montreal, Canada | 8th | 1500 m |
| 1978 | World Cross Country Championships | Glasgow, Scotland | 7th | Long Race Individual |
| 2nd | Long Race Team | |||
| 1979 | World Cross Country Championships | Limerick, Ireland | 7th | Long Race Individual |
| 1st | Long Race Team | |||
| 1980 | World Cross Country Championships | Paris, France | 5th | Long Race Individual |
| 3rd | Long Race Team | |||
| 1981 | World Cross Country Championships | Madrid, Spain | 2nd | Long Race Individual |
| 2nd | Long Race Team | |||
| 1983 | World Cross Country Championships | Gateshead, England | 13th | Long Race Individual |
| 1st | Long Race Team | |||
References
- ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1094671/index.htm
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=vvrwcB3DeEwC&lpg=PA3&ots=Moy4KTekbe&dq=%22United%20States%20National%20Record%20Progression%20For%20Women%20From%201892%22&pg=PA646#v=onepage&q=Jan%20Merrill&f=false P646
- ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1094671/4/index.htm
- ↑ http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAOutdoorTF/women/w1500m.asp
- ↑ http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAOutdoorTF/women/w3000m.asp
- ↑ http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAIndoorTF/women/w1500m.asp
- ↑ http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAIndoorTF/women/w3000m.asp
- ↑ http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAXC/women.asp
