Draft:Claudette Groenendaal

• Comment: None of these sources appear to provide independent, significant coverage of the subject. Was she covered in any newspapers or similar? MCE89 (talk) 06:39, 3 August 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: Some of your sources still state "?utm_source=chatgpt.com". Review the entire draft for any AI hallucinations. qcne (talk) 20:08, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

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Claudette Groenendaal was a national and international class track and field athlete specializing mainly in the 800m and 1500m.^[1]. While at the University of Oregon, she became a four-time All-American^[2]. She was a scoring member of Oregon’s first NCAA cross country championship team in 1983^[3]; in 1984 she won the NCAA 1500m and placed second in the 800m^[4]; in 1985, she won the 800m while placing second in the 1500m, scoring 18 points of Oregon's 52 points to help lead the Ducks to their first women’s NCAA team title^[5]; later that season she set a school and collegiate record in the 800m (1:58.33)^[6]

In 1997, Groenendaal was elected to the University of Oregon’s Hall of Fame^[7]; in 2016 she was placed on the Pac-12’s All-Century Women’s Track and Field team^[2]; and in 2023 she made the Oregon women's track and field all-time relay team^[8]

Post-collegiately, she competed for Athletics West and the Santa Monica Track Club, winning back-to-back USATF national titles in the 800m in 1985^[9] and 1986^[10]; Track and Field News ranked her the number one American in the 800 for 1986^[11]. During her career, Track and Field News ranked her among the top ten Americans in the 800m (1984-1987, 1993)^[12] and the 1500m (1985, 1986, 1991, 1993)^[13] during her professional career. Additionally, she was anchored the world record setting 4 x mile relay in 1985 at the Oregon/Pepsi Relays.^[14]

During her international competitions, she won the 800m in the 1986 edition of the Athletissima IAAF Grand Prix meet in Lausanne, Switzerland^[15], along with a 2nd place finish in the 800 at the 1984 IAAF Grand Prix Oslo Bislett Games (now part of the Diamond League), a 2nd place finish in the 800 at the 1985 London Peugot-Talbot Games (now part of the Diamond League), and a 3rd place finish in the 800 at the 1987 IAAF Grand Prix Golden Gala in Rome (now part of the Diamond League)^[16]. Also in 1986 she became only the 9th American female to break 4 minutes and 30 seconds in the mile, running 4:25.29^[17] at the annual IAAF Grand Prix Memorial Van Damme athletics meeting in Brussels, Belgium (currently part of the Diamond League). For comparison, only 132 U.S. women have broken 4:30.00 in the mile, compared to over 732 U.S. men who have broken 4 minutes in the mile^[18]. In 1990 she returned to the Van Damme athletics meeting in Brussels to win the 1000m.^[19]

Currently, she is still ranked 222nd in the 800m on World Athletics’ All-time world list (35th among Americans)^[20], and 490th in the 1500m (68th among Americans)^[21]. Additonally, she is ranked 300th in the 1000m (37th among Americans).^[22]

In 2012, she had a featured interview in the documentary “We Grew Wings,”^[23][24] which chronicled the history of the University of Oregon’s championship history in women’s track and field and her role in it.^[25]

Claudette has continued competing as a national class masters runner (ages 35 and older), and was part of an American Record-setting 4x800 relay squad in 2014^[26]

References

1. "Claudette GROENENDAAL | Profile | World Athletics".
2. "Seven Named to All-Century Team". University of Oregon Athletics.
3. "Women's Cross Country Team 1983 (2006) - Hall of Fame".
4. https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1984w.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
5. https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1985w.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
6. "Wonder Women". Leadership and Legacy - Digital Exhibits. April 26, 2023.
7. "Claudette Groenendaal (1997) - Hall of Fame". University of Oregon Athletics.
8. "The Oregon women's track and field all-time relay team | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com.
9. https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/eTN1985_13_USA_Ch.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
10. https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/eTN1986_15_USA_Ch.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
11. "Women's U.S. 800 Rankings By Athlete".
12. https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/04-w800RankUS.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
13. "Women's U.S. 1500/Mile Rankings by Athlete".
14. https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/eTN1985_08.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
15. "None".
16. "Claudette GROENENDAAL | Profile | World Athletics".
17. "Sub-4 / Sub-4:30 - Mile History".
18. "The U.S. Sub-4:00 Miler's Club (Chronologically)". 8 January 2024.
19. "Claudette GROENENDAAL | Profile | World Athletics".
20. https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middlelong/800-metres/all/women/senior?regionType=world&timing=electronic&page=3&bestResultsOnly=true&firstDay=1899-12-31&lastDay=2025-08-02&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10229512&ageCategory=senior ^{[bare URL]}
21. https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middlelong/1500-metres/all/women/senior?regionType=world&page=5&bestResultsOnly=true&firstDay=1899-12-30&lastDay=2025-08-01&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10229513&ageCategory=senior ^{[bare URL]}
22. https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middlelong/1000-metres/all/women/senior?regionType=world&page=3&bestResultsOnly=true&firstDay=1899-12-29&lastDay=2025-07-31&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10229516&ageCategory=senior ^{[bare URL]}
23. "We Grew Wings (2012) - Plot - IMDb". IMDb.
24. "'We Grew Wings' Documentary Tells Story of Rise of Oregons Women Athletes". Bleacher Report.
25. "Historic Hayward Field".
26. https://mastershistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/American-Masters-Records-Mar2019.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}