Butler's Victoria Mitchell Wins NCAA National Championship in Steeplechase

June 11, 2005

Senior Victoria Mitchell capped off a brilliant track career at Butler University by winning an individual national title in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase at the 2005 NCAA Division I Track and Field Championship in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday, June 10. The individual crown was the first for a Butler track athlete in 73 years!


Mitchell paced the steeplechase field in 9:54.32. It was the second-best time in the event by a Division I athlete this year, trailing only the school-record 9:53.24 effort that Mitchell posted last month at the Minnesota Distance Invitational. The talented Butler runner finished five seconds ahead of runner-up Cassie Hunt of Illinois. Hunt had edged Mitchell for the steeplechase title at the Mideast Regional two weeks ago.


The national title was Butler's first since 1932, when Bert Nelson won the men's high jump at the NCAA Championship. Mitchell, who earned All-America honors with an eighth place finish in the steeplechase last year, becomes the first female athlete in Butler history to win a national championship.