Hannah Steelman’s junior season of indoor track at Wofford College ended abruptly because of COVID-19.
The Orono High School graduate was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 12 months ago, set to compete at the 2020 NCAA Division I championship. The event was canceled abruptly and athletes from around the country were sent home.
The 21-year-old Steelman has since transferred to North Carolina State for her senior year, and her experiences this year were remarkably different.
She earned first-team All-America honors with an eighth-place finish in the women’s 5,000 meters on March 12 at the NCAA Division I indoor track and field championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Three days later, Steelman returned to competition and placed fifth at the delayed NCAA Division I cross country championships, another All-America effort.
“I definitely had a goal in my mind on where I wanted to finish in cross [country], and honestly I exceeded those expectations,” Steelman said.
She was timed in 15 minutes, 55.65 seconds in the indoor 5K final, then traveled with three other teammates, who also were doubling up, to the cross country championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma. There, on March 15, she posted a time of 20:14.9 in the 6-kilometer race.
“Her performance was next level,” N.C. State women’s cross country and track and field coach Laurie Henes said.
The second half of Steelman’s unique All-America doubleheader helped N.C. State place second at the cross country championships. That sense of team was a major reason she transferred to the tradition-rich Atlantic Coast Conference program after becoming a four-time All-American in three years at Wofford, a Division I school in South Carolina.
“Getting that top team finish and having two of my teammates finish in All-American positions behind me and running with them practically the whole race was really special for me, because while I’m very thankful for my time at Wofford, the reason I transferred was to have that team aspect, that feeling of running next to teammates you’re training with all the time,” Steelman said.
Steelman, one of three N.C. State cross country All-Americans, was named Southeast Region Women’s Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association.
“Just getting to experience that on a national championship stage is an indescribable feeling. It all hit me at once that this was what I wanted, and it was super cool,” she said.
Steelman finished third at last October’s ACC championships to help the Wolfpack capture their fifth straight team title, but they had to wait several months for the nationals, which were delayed by the NCAA.
With indoor track lined up for a more traditional winter schedule, the looming back-to-back championship meets made for a once-in-a-lifetime scheduling quirk.
“It was a different year,” Steelman said.
N.C. State women’s distance runners focused their winter training on cross country in pursuit of a top team finish, although Henes said a wet winter in the Carolinas put some limitations on their opportunities to train on the grass.
“What it boils down to is, if you’re fit, you’re fit,” Steelman said. “It’s smarter to be on the grass more, because we were in a really good spot to place highly nationally, so we wanted to be ready for cross but those workouts were also helping us on the track, too.”
Steelman never fell below eighth place during the 5,000 meters.
“While I was very happy and fortunate to get another All-American honor, I wanted more out of myself, I wanted to finish higher,” she said.
“If anything it set me up well for cross because I left that track feeling there was some unfinished business and I wanted to take a little vengeance out on the cross country course.”
The Wolfpack bused to Tulsa, Oklahoma, the next morning to meet the rest of their cross country teammates, then traveled to Stillwater for the second stage of their challenging weekend of nationals.
“Even the day before the [cross country] race I was concerned that we overdid it,” Henes said. “But they’ve had so many opportunities taken away, and Hannah and [teammate] Kelsey Chmiel in particular were at the indoor last year when they had to fly home and not run because they sent everybody home from the NCAAs. They really felt strongly that they could handle both this year and they both did well.”
N.C. State’s outdoor track and field season is under way and Steelman is expected to compete in the steeplechase and other distance races — but maybe not yet.
“She’s going to be racing until late into the summer, so there’s no real reason for her to be racing in March coming off two nationals,” Henes said.
Steelman plans to run cross country next fall before graduating with her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She intends to turn professional once her college career concludes.
“I think the steeple is where I have the best chance of making a team right now in the Olympics or world championships,” she said.
While Henes has not coached Steelman for a full year yet, she shares the optimism about Steelman’s potential based on what she’s witnessed so far.
“Hannah’s been here long enough for me to say that she’s got a future,” Henes said. “She can make [national] teams and make this a long career if that’s what she chooses to do.
“I think her ceiling is really high.”
