Monica and her older sister
Regina Joyce grew up with their parents in
Sussex, England. She was winning cross country races as early as age 11. Both sisters originally competed for England as junior athletes but switched to Ireland in 1982, based on the citizenship of their parents, for competitive reasons. Before embarking on her international career, she competed for
San Diego State University for two and a half years, finishing second in the
1500 metres at the
NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1981. She married her college coach Fred La Plante, who continued to coach her. Monica won the British
WAAA Championships title in the 5,000 metres event at the
1982 WAAA Championships and represented Ireland at the
1982 European Athletics Championships, the
1983 World Championship and the
1984 World Cross Country Championships. Both sisters represented Ireland in the
1984 Summer Olympics, Regina in the
Marathon and Monica in the
3000 meters. Monica ran in the
1985 World Cross Country Championships, finishing 12th and the
IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships finishing 8th and won the British WAAA title at the
1985 WAAA Championships. At home she was the Irish National Champion in the
1500 metres in 1982, 1983 and 1988 with
Sonia O'Sullivan a main competitor. She became a United States citizen in 2000. She has continued running into
masters age divisions, in 2002 she won the
Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K outright at age 43. At age 50, she beat the
W50 World Record in the 5,000 meters at the
Mt. SAC Relays, running 16:19.51. That year she also added the 15K road running W50 world record, running 52:38 at the
Gate River Run. She also added American records in the
5K, 8K and
10K, the latter for a second time with a 30-second improvement. == References ==