Berea, OH — The crowd’s reaction told the entire story. As soon as the clock stopped during the second heat of the 100-meter hurdle prelims at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships Friday afternoon, an audible gasp overcame Finnie Stadium like a wave.
Messiah senior Kristen Bates had run the trials in just :13.83 seconds — the fourth-fastest time in NCAA Division III history.
“It was pretty cool to hear the crowd when they saw the clock come to an abrupt halt,” said one Messiah supporter in attendance. “They knew they had seen something special.”
Bates was special, as her Friday time bettered her previous school-record clip of :13.99, set at this year’s Penn Invitational.
Her :13.83 set a new Finnie Stadium record, and kept her as the top seed heading into Saturday’s 100-meter hurdle finals, set to begin at 1:45 p.m. on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College.
“Kristen exploded out of the start and really ran a controlled race,” said Bill Barko, Messiah hurdles coach. “She was consistent over every hurdle. Today’s race was a result of all of her hard work on perfecting her technique.”
With sunny skies and comfortable temperatures serving as a backdrop, Bates once again rose to the championships occasion. Her :13.83 was nearly a quarter of a second faster than Friday’s second-quickest pace, set by Massachusetts Tech’s Portia Jones — who ironically ran in the same heat as Bates.
Bates will now look to add to her two national championship trophies Saturday, as the Landisburg, Pa. native will be assigned lane four in the title heat.
“It's great to see athletes perform at their best in the national championships,” said Dale Fogelsanger, Messiah head coach. “Kristen certainly continues to do that.”
As impressive as her Friday performance was, it was not unexpected. Bates’ :13.99 clip was the 10th-fastest time in the NCAA Division III record books, and quickest pace among all of Division III competition this year.
She only bolstered those numbers Friday, remaining as the only sub-14 second runner in the country this spring.
“She’ll be looking for another strong run tomorrow afternoon,” Fogelsanger said.
Following Saturday’s 100-meter hurdle final, Bates will then compete in the triple jump at 2:30 p.m. She enters that competition as the second seed, boasting a season-best 12.12 meter leap — re-setting a school record at last week’s The College of New Jersey Last Chance meet.
Prior to Friday’s action, Bates was awarded the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) Mideast Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, accepting her award at the annual banquet Wednesday night. It was Bates’ second regional honor from the organization, following her USTFCCA Division III Women’s Field Athlete of the Year and USTFCCA Division III Women’s Track Athlete of the Meet awards following this year’s indoor championships — the highest individual honors bestowed by the organization.
Fans can get real-time updates to Bates’ Saturday performances on NCAA.com, as well as getting meet details, schedules and information at the Baldwin-Wallace National Championships site. Results will be posted both there and at the official 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Championships site.