Amy Cashin wrapped up a stellar track and field career at West Virginia University in 2018 when she became the first woman representing the Mountaineers to break the 10-minute mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
A native of Werribee, Victoria, Australia, Cashin went on to become an Olympic qualifier in the event not long after and finished 24th in the first round at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Cashin will have a second opportunity to represent Australia in the Olympics after recently qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“Tokyo was my first Olympics and first senior Australian team. It was kind of like I’m excited to be there, but a lot of nerves and not a lot of experience,” Cashin said Tuesday on MetroNews Talkline. “This year, I’m going in with to World Championships, an Olympics and a World Games under my belt, so a lot more experience.
“Instead of just happy to be there, trying to fight for that spot in the final and being able to have family and friends come to watch, it’s going to be a completely different environment than Tokyo.”
Cashin won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Australian National Championship three months ago with a finish of 9:39.53 in Adelaide.
A 2017 graduate of WVU who received her undergraduate degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology, Cashin went on to earn a Master’s in Clinical and Mental Health Counseling. She has fond memories competing for the Mountaineers for veteran head coach Sean Cleary.
“It was a really big decision to come over to West Virginia. I’d never been to America before,” Cashin said. “I had a few colleges reach out and I spoke to a bunch of the coaches and my parents really encouraged me, like it’s a great opportunity, you’re going to grow as a person athletically and academically.
“I really connected with Sean on the first few phone calls. It was important to me for the program to foster running and your teammates, but also academics and that’s something we have. I didn’t know a lot about the NCAA at all. With my parents both being teachers, it was like go to a place where you can get good academics, be supported in your running and also chase your dreams.”
Cashin becomes the second WVU athlete to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the steeplechase, joining current senior Ceili McCabe, who will represent Canada. McCabe is a three-time first team All-American in the indoor track season, three-time first team All-American in the outdoor track season and a two-time All-American in cross country.
Both Cashin and McCabe are training in Morgantown for the first round of the steeplechase, which will be take place August 4.
“We both kind of like routine. It’s what we do throughout the year. We have the places that we run and workout,” Cashin said. “Morgantown is a great place to be prepping for Paris. It’s very hot and humid right now. It’s preparing us well that way, but it allows us to stay in our routine. We do a lot of traveling throughout the year already, so the less traveling we can do, the better.”
It is unknown until closer to race day if Cashin and McCabe will be in the same heat, which would mean they’d compete against each other at the same time in the steeplechase, an eight-lap race with 28 barriers and seven jumps over a water pit.
“I don’t want to be in the same heat, because only five per heat qualify, and we don’t want to take a place from one another, but at the same time, there is a level of comfort having each other in a heat,” Cashin said. “You know you have your training and she can do this, I can do this. There’s that level of comfort. Either way, it’ll be OK.”
The final round of the steeplechase is scheduled for August 6.
Cashin is hopeful past experience in high-profile events can prove beneficial and lead her to competing on that day.
“I have a lot more international experience now running against these top-level girls,” she said. “I wasn’t quite as experienced back in the day. I kind of know how to fight for my space a bit better and have that race savviness to put myself in a good position and not waste energy elbowing someone for 3,000 meters.”