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Messiah Trio Captures School-Record Four All-American Honors
Posted: 3/15/2008
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Ada, OH — If it weren’t for the laws of mathematics, the Messiah College track and field program would have gone four for three at this weekend’s 2008 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championships.

Taking a school-record three athletes to the event at Ohio Northern University, Messiah finished with four All-American performances, as sophomore Kristen Bates finished third in the triple jump and fourth in the 55-meter hurdles, while classmate Ted Simmons took home fourth place in the high jump on the men’s side. Senior Nick Kipe claimed seventh in the triple jump, giving Messiah the most All-American honors from a single indoor meet in program history.

“We had an absolutely amazing meet in Ohio,” said Messiah head coach Dale Fogelsanger. “We had a number of great stories unfold, and it really was far beyond what we expected. I can’t say how proud I am of all of the athletes for their efforts to just get there, but then for the types of performances they put up. It was pretty incredible.”

Fogelsanger was in absentia at the championship meet, leading a group of team members to Mexico for a week-long service trip during Messiah’s spring break. Bates, Kipe and Simmons had pre-existing commitments in Ohio, however, as assistant coach Bill Barko led them into Ohio Northern’s Sports Center.

Messiah’s amazing weekend got started almost instantly on Friday, when Bates ran a school-record clip of :08.15 in the 55-meter hurdles, winning her heat in advancing to Saturday’s finals in the event. That clip was over a full tenth of a second better than her previous program-record mark of :08.26, which earned her the honor of becoming Messiah’s first automatic qualifier for an indoor national championship event in school history.

Bates then clocked an :08.18 clip in Saturday’s final race, falling narrowly behind Holly Andrews of Nebraska Wesleyan University (:08.12), Amy Magnuson of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (:08.01) and Sumer Rohrs of Frostburg State University (:07.96). Rohrs’ clip set a new NCAA Division III indoor record, breaking a time of :07.99 that had stood since the 1999 season.

“Kristen’s prelim time and her final time were negligible,” Fogelsanger said, “but that :08.15 was a kicking time. She ran great in the finals, too. What a great weekend to have your personal best.”

Had Bates ran her clip of :08.15 in the MAC Conference Championships, it would have set a new all-time league record.

Perhaps not satisfied with her first All-American honor of her career, Bates did the near unthinkable in the triple jump, arriving as the event’s 17th-seeded athlete and finishing third with an initial leap of 38 feet, 2 inches. That mark bettered her personal record of 36 feet, 10 ½ inches, while Bates was the only triple jumper on the weekend — male or female — to better their respective personal best mark at the championship meet.

“It was quite a scene,” Barko said. “After Kristen hit 38-2 on her first attempt, there were some higher seeded athletes that were nearly in tears. No one else had bettered their own marks, and I think they began to fear for their own standings. The surface on Ohio Northern’s track was a bit different, but there’s still just a lot of pressure on kids at a meet like this.”

Eventually, Brockport SUNY’s Shannon O’Keeffe registered a distance of 38 feet, 4 inches to win the event (she qualified with a 38 feet, 8 and ¼ inch mark) while Washington University-St. Louis’ Danielle Wadllington (38 feet, 4 inches) placed second. Bates’ third-place finish was magical in its own right, as the sophomore would not have been competing in the event had it not been for her automatic qualifying mark in the 55-meter hurdles.

“The NCAA takes 16 athletes for each event at the national championships, and if 16 don’t hit the automatic qualifying mark, they begin looking at those who hit the provisional mark,” Barko said. “If you’re already at the meet competing in another event, the NCAA will let you compete in events (in which you only hit the provisional mark) as an ‘add-on.’ So Kristen went from 17th to third. Remarkable.”

Kipe, Messiah’s only previous All-American at the meet, cleared a distance of 46 feet, 10 inches in the triple jump first round before capping that mark with a 46 feet, 10 and ¾ inch tally in the finals. Fisk University’s Kamar James won the event with a distance of 48 feet, 9 inches. The top eight finishers in each event earn All-American honors.

“Nick has had another great season for us, and it was really nice to see him add an indoor All-American honor to his resume,” Fogelsanger said.

Almost as impressive as Bates’ weekend was that of Simmons, who — in just his fifth collegiate track meet ever — finished as the nation’s fourth-best high jumper, clearing a final height of 6 feet, 8 ¾ inches. Simmons failed in his first attempt at 6-4 before hitting that mark, failed in his first attempt at clearing 6-6 before succeeding and then slid over 6-8 on his first attempt. He finished even with the City College of New York’s Dean Brown in overall height cleared, but lost the tie-breaker due to overall number of attempts needed.

“I told Ted that if he cleared 6-8, he’d be an All-American,” Fogelsanger said. “Here’s a kid who’s a volleyball player and has just excelled in a very short amount of time in a very technically-skilled event. His improvement has been really fun to watch.”

Fogelsanger learned of the group’s performance while waiting for a connecting flight in Los Angeles’ LAX Airport, taking a group of track athletes to Mexico to build houses, serve food and lead worship services during Messiah’s spring break.

“As a program, we always want to be about more than just what we do on the track or in the field,” he said. “I’m just as proud of the people here with me as I am of Kristen, Nick and Ted.”

The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse won the men’s team championship, garnering 43 team points. Illinois Wesleyan University came away with the women’s title, finishing with 30 overall points. For a complete list of event finishers in the 2008 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championships, click here.

Messiah will now enjoy its four All-American plaques until Wednesday, Mar. 26, when the team officially opens the outdoor portion of its 2008 schedule. The team will host both Gettysburg College and Dickinson College in that home meet. Events are slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.