Athlete Profile: Delilah DiCrescenzo

Chicago native and steeplechase specialist Delilah DiCrescenzo is a 2001 graduate of Queen of Peace High School in Burbank, IL and a 2005 graduate of Columbia University. An all-state runner in high school, DiCrescenzo was an All-American while at Columbia and was recently named into the Ivy-League school’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

At Columbia, DiCrescenzo majored in Sociology and focused on the steeplechase as her main event, earning All-American honors in that event her senior season. A four-time Heptagonal Champion for the Lions, DiCrescenzo continues to add to the Columbia athletic tradition, serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the track and cross country teams.

In her first year of post-collegiate running, DiCrescenzo finished third in the 2006 Outdoor U.S. Track and Field National Championships. She continued the national-level success the following year, nabbing top honors at the 2007 U.S. National Club Cross Country Championships. Her success on the national scene led to a Puma sponsorship, and remains one of only three Puma-sponsored athletes in the U.S. In 2008, DiCrescenzo slashed 18 seconds off her steeplechase personal best, running an Olympic A-standard of 9:41.68. She closed out the stellar year by advancing the finals of the Olympic Trials and her time ranked her the fifth fastest American in that event for the year. She made another big jump in 2009, when she finished fourth at the U. S. Cross Country Championships and became one of five women to represent the U.S. at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan. She also nabbed the individual gold that year at the NACAC Cross Country Championships in Tobago, leading the U.S. to a team title that year. In 2010, DiCrescenzo dabbled in some longer distances, recording a personal best for 5000m of 15:40 at the Puma Mt. Sac Relays. She also saw success on the roads, finishing as the second American in the New York Mini 10k with a time of 33:38 and a third place at the Ryan Shay Mile in Charlevoix, Michigan in a time of 4:37. DiCrescenzo looks to make an even bigger splash in her signature event in the future and will continue to display versatility in the sport over a broad spectrum of distances.

Personal Bests & Career Highlights

  • Steeplechase — 9:40.63
  • 1500m — 4:12.78
  • 3000m — 9:02.50
  • 5000m — 15:40.00
  • 2008 World Championship Team USA — Ekiden Japan
  • 2009 World Championship Team USA — Cross Country
  • 2010 NACAC Cross Country Individual Champion
  • 2010 NACAC Championships Team USA
  • 2013 World Cross Country Team USA