Grace Steinmetz, Bellevue University

The Red Banner Race Report · Jul 9, 2026 · 26m · transcript

Bellevue University's Grace Steinmetz's college coach called her rapid ascent a "huge understatement" of a surprise, and there’s no better way to explain the incredible trajectory of improvement for this athlete. Grace had a high school cross country 5K best of 20:34, and she was 73rd at the Iowa Class 1A cross country state meet as a senior, with track bests of 2:30 for the 800, 5:37 for the 1600…no state titles, no national appearances, a few all-state awards…just your regular high school runner. And then all semblance of average disappeared. As a collegiate freshman, Grace won in Sioux…