Jan Merrill

Jan Merrill

Merrill in 1975
Personal information
Born	(1956-06-18) June 18, 1956 (age 68) New London, Connecticut
Education	Waterford Highschool, CT
Height	165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	800–10,000 m
Club	Connecticut College Age Group Athletes Association
Coached by	Norm Higgins
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	800 m – 2:02.80 (1977) 1500 m – 4:02.61 (1976) Mile – 4:28.3 (1979) 3000 m – 8:42.6 (1978) 5000 m – 15:30.6 (1980) 10,000 m – 32.03. (1981)
Medal record Representing the   United States Pan American Games 1975 Mexico City 1500 m 1979 San Juan 3000 m

Janice "Jan" Melbourne Merrill (born June 18, 1956) is a retired American runner. 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 1500 meters (4:02.61 set on July 29, 1976) during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. ^[2] She lost other record opportunities because the only times she could get a decent race in the United States was against men. ^[1]

She won the U.S. title at 1500 meters twice outdoors, ^[3] 3000 meters 4 times, ^[4] twice in the indoor mile, ^[5] twice in the indoor 2 mile ^[6] and twice in Cross Country. ^[7] After retiring from competitions she became a high school and college track coach. ^[8]

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

1. Verschoth, Anita (February 26, 1979). "She's His Fair Lady". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-04.
2. Louise Mead Tricard (1 January 1996). American Women's Track and Field: A History, 1895 Through 1980. McFarland. pp. 646–. ISBN   978-0-7864-0219-9.
3. USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 1,500 m Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
4. USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 3,000 m Archived 2010-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
5. USA Indoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 1,500 m Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
6. USA Indoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 3,000 m Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
7. USA Track & Field – Women. Usatf.org. Retrieved on 2017-09-18.
8. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jan Merrill". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.