With her final finish line crossing at the NCAA Championships, Ellie Child ended her career as one of the most dominant runners in Weber State history.
Child took her last run on June 8, in the 3000-meter steeplechase. She finished with a final time of 10 minutes and 24 seconds after falling on the water jump with several laps remaining in the race.
For her final season, Child earned a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association honorable mention. Child stayed close to home as she joined the Wildcats in her freshman year.
The Davis High School graduate and Kaysville native, first ran for WSU in the 2013 cross country season. Over the three years afterwards, Child ran cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.
She competed in the Big Sky Championships at the end of each track and field season, qualifying for the NCAA regional and national meets several times.
Child improved each season with the Wildcats as well, and in her freshman season, she finished 106th in the NCAA regionals for the 6000-meter run.
In her final year, she solidified her mark as one of the most dominant runners in the Big Sky Conference. She won the 5000-meter by nine seconds and advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 6000-meter event in her final cross-country season.
The 5000-meter event was Child’s best in the indoor season as well. She won the Big Sky title in the event at the conference championships and won the event at the Washington Husky Invitational.
At the Husky Invitational, she completed in the race in 16 minutes and 19.48 seconds. Her time was recorded as the third fastest run in the history of Weber State.
Her final outdoor track season was the final season of her career, ending in the watery puddle at the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas.
In addition to her success on the track as a Wildcat, Child left her mark in the classroom. She earned Big Sky Conference Academic All-Conference honors in the 2016 cross country season and 2017 indoor track season.
Child put up an exemplary four years as a runner at Weber State, and the WSU record book reflects her achievements. She’s on the top-ten list of two outdoor events: the 1500 meters and the 3000-meter steeplechase.
Child leaves a legacy that future Wildcat runners will look up to for years to come.
