Abby Steiner has won the SEC indoor 200-meter dash three straight years but will be trying for her first SEC outdoor title this weekend. (Photo by UK Athletics)
Kentucky senior Abby Steiner has won the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championship the last two years and put her named into the American track & field history book Feb. 26 when she ran the second fastest 200 in world history in 22.09 seconds at the SEC Indoor Championship — her third straight SEC indoor title.
She ran the third fastest outdoor 200 in collegiate history in late April when the was clocked in 22.05 seconds — her seventh school record. She also ran the fastest 200 ever by a collegian with a headwind over 1.7 m/s when she ran 22.38. She had not run the 100 dash since her freshman season but was clocked in 10.82 seconds in April — the second fastest time in the world this season.
Steiner also combined with Alexis Holmes, Karma Davis and Dajour Miles in the 4×400 relay for the third fastest collegiate time this season and she was also on the current second fastest 4×100 relay team this season.
However, even with all that Steiner still made it clear Monday just how much winning the 200 at the SEC Outdoor Championship this weekend at Ole Miss would mean to her.
“It would be amazing, especially because I haven’t been at an SEC outdoor championship meet since my freshman year and I don’t have an outdoor title on my resume,” Steiner said.
Her freshman year she was not fast enough to win a SEC title. Her sophomore year COVID cancelled the outdoor season. Her junior year a tendon injury took away any chance to win.
“I’m far from the most patient person when it comes to track,” Steiner said. “It was a huge battle last spring for me with my injury because I had such a successful indoor season and had a good idea of what I could do outdoors, and it was an Olympic year, but like coach (Lonnie) Green said, we knew it wasn’t the end.”
“It was really just about stepping back and making sure we were focused on the bigger goals. I learned how to be patient.”
Steiner recently graduated with a degree in Kinesiology with a 3.845 grade-point average. She was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and SEC Women’s Runner of the Year in 2022.
“Graduation was super special,” Steiner said. “My family was able to come down (from Ohio).”
