Kerri Gallagher (born May 31, 1989) is an American middle-distance runner who specialises in the 1500-meter run. She began to focus on running full-time in 2012 and consistently improved over the following years, resulting in a third-place finish at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2015. She competed collegiately for

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

Running career

High school

Born to John and Patricia Gallagher, she grew up in New York City, hometown of Belle Harbor, New York and attended

Bishop Kearney High School There are two Catholic secondary schools named Bishop Kearney High School in the U.S. state of New York: * Bishop Kearney High School (Irondequoit, New York), near Rochester * Bishop Kearney High School (New York City) Bishop Kearney High School ...

in Brooklyn.Kerri Gallagher
TeamUSA. Retrieved on 2015-08-05. From a sporting family, several of her siblings took up running. While at Bishop Kearney, her coach was John Lovett, who was friends with

Matt Centrowitz Matthew Centrowitz (born January 28, 1955) is a two-time Olympic distance runner, a four-time United States champion, a collegiate All-American, a nationally renowned high school athlete, and a collegiate cross country and track coach. Life an ...

. This friendship eventually resulted in Gallagher's post-college link-up with training partner Lauren Centrowitz.Gambaccini, Peter (2015-06-22)
Kerri Gallagher: From Running Dropout to World Championships Team Member
''Runners World''. Retrieved on 2015-08-05.

Collegiate

She went on to enroll at

, taking a degree in mathematics. She competed for the

Fordham Rams The Fordham Rams are the varsity sports teams for Fordham University. Their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. In football, the Rams play in t ...

collegiate sports team while there and in 2010 won the

800-meter run The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

at the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

championships and was runner-up over 1000 m at the indoor Eastern College Athletic Conference championships. In her final year she was runner-up in the 800 m at the indoor ECAC championships and winner of the Atlantic 10 1500 m. She ended her collegiate career with bests of 2:07.61 minutes for the 800 m a 4:20.25 minutes for the 1500 m.Kerri Gallagher
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2015-08-05. Her 800 m best was a school record and she served as the school's track team captain in 2010 and 2011.Kerri Gallagher
. American University. Retrieved on 2015-08-05.

Post-collegiate

After college, she began working in the finance sector at

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is an American multinational financial services corporation specializing in retail brokerage. It is the wealth & asset management division of Morgan Stanley. On January 13, 2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup annou ...

but changed her mind and chose to focus on running full-time, training under coach

with the New Balance Pacers Track Club. She worked with Centrowitz as a women's track assistant coach at the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

. She set her sights on qualifying for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, but failed in that attempt, later saying "I didn't have a great understanding of professional running and what it takes to make an Olympic team." She ended the season as a much improved runner, however, with bests of 2:06.73 and 4:16.07 for the 800 m and 1500 m, and had a win at the

Army Ten-Miler The Army Ten-Miler is the second largest (after the Philadelphia Broad Street Run) ten-mile race in the United States. It is held every October in Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C., sponsored by the U.S. Army Military District of Washingt ...

. The following year she improved her bests in all distances from 800 m to 10 miles, including a 1500 m win at the Victoria International Track Classic in 4:09.64 minutes and a course record of 54:56 minutes at the Army Ten-Miler. She competed for the first time at national level and placed fifth in the 1500 m at the

2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 20–23 in conjunction with the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Champions ...

. Gallagher made her debut in the IAAF Diamond League at the 2014

adidas Grand Prix The USA Track & Field, USATF New York Grand Prix is an annual athletics meeting held at Icahn Stadium in New York City, United States. First started in 2005 as the Reebok Grand Prix and then Adidas Grand Prix, it was previously one of the IAAF ...

in New York, coming eighth with an 800 m best of 2:05.91 minutes. Her improvement over 1500 m stalled, having a best of 4:09.99 minutes that year, but she knocked over twenty seconds off her

3000 meters The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

best with 9:07.39 minutes. She had a third straight win at the Army Ten-Miler. Her breakthrough into the world elite came at the 2015 Penn Relays, where her 4:34.42 minutes win over the mile run was a world-leading time. Entering the 1500 m at the

2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Hayward Field, University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. Organized by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 25–28 and served as the national championships in ...

, she set a personal record of 4:08.70 minutes in the qualifiers and, in a more tactical final, placed third overall to qualify for her first world championships team. She achieved the qualifying standard with another best of 4:03.56 minutes to win at the Meeting Sport Solidarieta in Lignano – her first win in Europe. She had her first race against the world's elite at the

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. World records Over the course of its history, five world reco ...

Diamond League meet in Monaco and placed sixth. Kerri Gallagher finished runner-up behind Shannon Rowbury at the 2016

NYRR New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more ...

Wanamaker Mile in a personal record 4:26.18 (#7 U.S. woman all-time indoors). In July, Gallagher placed 23rd in the 1500 meters in 4:22.47 at 2016 United States Olympic Trials (track and field).

Personal records

* 800 meters – 2:02.63 min (2015) *

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

– 4:03.56 min (2015) * Mile run – 4:26.18 min (2016) *

indoor – 9:07.39 (2014) * Two miles indoor – 9:58.77 min (2015)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Kerri Living people 1989 births Sportspeople from Arlington County, Virginia Sportspeople from Queens, New York Track and field athletes from New York City American female middle-distance runners Fordham Rams women's cross country runners World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Fordham Rams women's track and field athletes American Eagles track and field coaches