Janice "Jan" Melbourne Merrill (born June 18, 1956) is a retired American runner. She was the dominant long-distance runner of the middle 1970s, a notable front runner, her uniform with the large "M" on her chest would usually break away to an insurmountable lead in domestic meets. She was equally untouchable in self-promotion or dealing with the media, often deferring to her coach, Norm Higgins. At various points in time she held the American record in the 1500 meters (4:02.61 set on July 29, 1976) during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. She lost other record opportunities because the only times she could get a decent race in the United States was against men.
She won the U.S. title at 1500 meters twice outdoors,USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 1,500 m 3000 meters 4 times,USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 3,000 m twice in the indoor mile,USA Indoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 1,500 m twice in the indoor 2 mileUSA Indoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 3,000 m and twice in Cross Country.USA Track & Field – Women. Usatf.org. Retrieved on 2017-09-18. After retiring from competitions she became a high school and college track coach.
Achievements YearTournamentVenueResultExtraRepresenting the 1976Olympic Games Montreal, Canada 8th1500 m1978World Cross Country Championships Glasgow, Scotland 7thLong Race Individual 2ndLong Race Team1979World Cross Country Championships Limerick, Ireland 7thLong Race Individual 1stLong Race Team1980World Cross Country Championships Paris, France 5thLong Race Individual 3rdLong Race Team1981World Cross Country Championships Madrid, Spain 2ndLong Race Individual 2ndLong Race Team1983World Cross Country Championships Gateshead, England 13thLong Race Individual 1stLong Race Team
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