Greencastle, IN — For the first time in the history of Messiah College, the school has a two-time national champion in the sport of track and field.
And it took all of five minutes to happen.
Senior Kristen Bates won both the 55-meter hurdles and the pentathlon at Saturday’s NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championships, collecting her eighth and ninth All-American honors — and thus becoming the most decorated athlete in Messiah history.
Bates ran a :08.00 in Saturday’s 55-meter hurdles finals to beat the field by .09 of a second, then wrapped up the last event of the pentathlon immediately thereafter, scoring 3,555 points — the third-highest mark in NCAA Division III Championships history.
Those results pushed Messiah to a program-record sixth-place team finish at the national championships, coming just a point away from tying for fourth place overall.
“We don’t get to coach athletes like this everyday,” said Dale Fogelsanger, Messiah head coach. “This is just simply awesome.”
Following a school- and stadium-record :07.89 in Friday’s 55-meter hurdles prelims, Bates awoke Saturday to post a :07.92 in the pentathlon-opening 55-meter hurdles, starting the multi-event with a commanding lead: Bates’ time set another Hollensteiner Track record, while her clip equated to 1,013 points for the hurdles portion.
It was the most points an NCAA Division III pentathlete had ever recorded in the 55-meter hurdles in championships history.
Bates then tied for second in the high jump (5 feet, 3 inches) before posting a 29 foot, 4 inch-mark in the shot put. She then took second in the long jump (17 feet, 6 and 1/4 inches) before having to take a brief break from the pentathlon to compete in the open 55-meter hurdles race.
After gliding her way to a championship time of :08.00 there, Bates had under five minutes to compose herself before preparing to run the 800-meters as the last portion of the pentathlon.
As soon as the hurdles were taken off the track, Bates ran the 800 in 2:30.91, ninth best within the 17-athlete field but good enough to keep her well ahead of Ithaca College’s Emma Dewart, who finished second overall with 3,494 points.
Bates’ pentathlon total and her Friday time in the 55-meter hurdles were NCAA Division III season bests. Her :07.89 clip in the 55-meter hurdle prelims was also the third-best clip in NCAA Division III Championships history.
“I’m excited, but I’m more exhausted than anything else,” Bates said just moments after winning both national championships. “I’m just so thankful for God, my coaches and my teammates. I remember going into Coach Fogelsanger’s office in September and saying, ‘I want to win the 55 hurdles and the pent, and I think I’ve got a shot at it. How can we make that happen?’ I’m just so blessed that I got the opportunity to go after it.”
Bates entered the open 55-meter hurdles as the top seed, running a then-NCAA Division III-season’s best :08.07 at the MAC Championships two weeks back. Her 3,301 points in the pentathlon placed her as the eighth-best seed heading into this weekend’s championships, but Fogelsanger provided ample warning for what possibly could follow:
“A national championship has been elusive, but I think she can win both the hurdles and the pentathlon,” he said Monday.
Bates did just that Saturday at DePauw’s Indoor Tennis and Track Center, bettering both of her school records set at last year’s indoor national championships. There, Bates finished as runner-up in the 55-meter hurdles in a time of :08.11, and took third in the pentathlon with 3,394 points.
Bates utilized a great drive phase in all three runnings of the hurdles event over this weekend, staying well ahead of Williams College’s Elise Johnson (:08.09) and The College of New Jersey’s Priscilla Senyah (:08.15) in Saturday’s finals.
The golden trophies may have not astounded Fogelsanger, but given Bates’ injury and health issues throughout this winter, they did surprise Bates herself. After suffering a re-sprained ankle at the MAC Championships and missing time with a right quadriceps injury throughout the indoor season, Bates said she wasn’t sure if a dual national championship was possible.
Add in a mysterious illness that sidelined her for three weeks in December, and serious doubt was creeping in.
“They didn’t know what was wrong with me when I was sick, and eventually they said I had sports-induced asthma,” she said. “I couldn’t believe that, but after I got my inhaler I was fine. I’m seeing a specialist for my quad after we get back (from the national championships), and I just tried to put that (injury) out of my mind. God had such a hand in all of this. Physically, I shouldn’t be able to run the times that I’m running. It’s just a blessing.”
Bates joins Amy Reed (2008 outdoor track & field heptathlon) and current assistant coach Chris Boyles (2002 outdoor track & field decathlon) as the only Messiah track athletes to claim national championships. Mike Helm is the only other individual athlete to win a national title in school history, earning the 157-pound title in the 2000 NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships.
A complete look at Bates’ nine All-American honors:
• 2010 Indoor Track & Field Championships — 55-Meter Hurdles (First)
• 2010 Indoor Track & Field Championships — Pentathlon (First)
• 2009 Outdoor Track & Field Championships — 100-Meter Hurdles (Second)
• 2009 Outdoor Track & Field Championships — Triple Jump (Fifth)
• 2009 Indoor Track & Field Championships — 55-Meter Hurdles (Second)
• 2009 Indoor Track & Field Championships — Pentathlon (Third)
• 2008 Outdoor Track & Field Championships — 100-Meter Hurdles (Fourth)
• 2008 Indoor Track & Field Championships — 55-Meter Hurdles (Fourth)
• 2008 Indoor Track & Field Championships — Triple Jump (Third)