Anna Willard won’t come home to Greenwood with an Olympic medal, but her trip to Beijing is far from a failure.

Willard, who lives and trains out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, placed 10th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Sunday night, one place behind Jenny Barringer of Boulder, Colo., who set a new American record in the sport.

“I felt good,” Willard told reporters after the race. “I had trouble closing the gap between the girl in front of me. I had a pretty good kick that last lap. I just couldn’t turn to the next gear. I’m disappointed, but all in all it has been a good season.”

Barringer lowered her own American record in the event’s first appearance at the Olympics. Running a stride ahead of Willard for most of the race, Barringer finished in 9:22.26 to break her own mark of 9:22.70, set July 20 in Heusden, Belgium.

Willard was 10th in 9:25.63 in a race won in world-record time by Gulnara Galkina-Samitova. The Russian lowered her own world record, becoming the first woman to break 9 minutes with her winning time of 8:58.81. Eunice Jepkorir of Kenya was second in 9:07.41, with Ekaterina Vokova of Russia third in 9:07.64.