Reed Wins National Championship To Lead Falcons' Efforts At NCAAs
Senior Amy Reed won the heptathlon event at this weekend's NCAA Championships, becoming just the second national champion in program history.

Oshkosh, WI — It was success of epic proportions for the Messiah College track and field program this weekend, as a win in the heptathlon and a runner-up finish in the men’s triple jump highlighted five All-American performances and a pair of stellar team results at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Senior Amy Reed became just the second national champion in Messiah track and field history, winning the heptathlon with 5,111 total points — an NCAA Division III Championships record. Classmate Nick Kipe bettered his ’07, third-place finish in the triple jump, clearing a distance of 48 feet, 10 inches in his last attempt to finish second overall.

Those marks led efforts from seven athletes competing in 11 events at the three-day meet, helping Messiah to a 10th-place finish in the women’s scoring and 23rd-place result on the men’s slate. The former was the program’s best-ever finish, while head coach Dale Fogelsanger witnessed four of his athletes combine to finish first, second, third, fourth and fifth collectively: Reed also finished third in the javelin throw competition, while sophomore Kristen Bates claimed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and junior Patrick Roach fifth in the 400-meter run, rounding off the Falcons’ All-American efforts.

“What a weekend it was for us,” Fogelsanger said upon returning from Wisconsin. “For our women to finish in the top 10 in the country, it’s just awesome. It’s the highest we’ve ever finished, and we’re very pleased. I can’t say enough about not only the quality of these young people as athletes, but as individuals. All are very balanced in life and are a joy to be around and coach. I am very, very blessed.”

Reed led the way in Messiah’s pursuits over the weekend, opening things with her record-setting heptathlon win. Reed’s 5,111 total points was bolstered by wins in the javelin (142 feet, 9 inches), long jump (18 feet, 3 and ¾ inches) and 800-meter run (2:21.66), while her overall point total was the highest ever recorded in the history of the NCAA Division III Championships.

Reed’s toss of 148 feet, 4 inches in the overall javelin throw earned her third-place honors, bettering her 2007 All-American finish by one place.

She becomes just the second Messiah track and field national champion in school history with her heptathlon win, joining 2002 outdoor track & field decathlon national champion Chris Boyles in the record books.

“It goes without saying that Amy had an incredible weekend,” Fogelsagner said. “Her number one goal was to win the heptathlon this year, and she worked very hard to get to this point. I could not be happier for her.”

Kipe had similar sights set on the triple jump, as 2003 graduate and older brother Hylton had hung on to the Messiah school record until Nick’s final attempt as a collegian early Saturday afternoon. It was at that point that Nick — with parents and Hylton looking on — recorded a final, wind-aided leap of 48 feet, 10 inches, a distance good enough for second place overall and four centimeters better than his brother’s old record after wind-conversions were taken into account.

“That was a very cool scene,” Fogelsanger said. “For Nick to set his personal-best in his final jump of his career, all while his family watched, it was just special.”

Bates then raced to a :14.24 wind-aided result in the 100-meter hurdles final, capturing fourth overall following a time of :14.22 in the first-round heat. She entered the event ranked eighth with a :14.38 qualifying time.

Roach — decked out in a classic white singlet Saturday afternoon — ran a :47.90 in the 400 to finish fifth overall, one spot off his qualifying ranking time of :47.70. It was Roach’s first All-American honor.

Senior Michael Dell finished just one slot away from an All-American finish in the decathlon, claiming ninth place with a 6,166-point performance. His best finishes in the multi-event were a pair of fifth-place results, coming in the shot put (39 feet, 2 and ¼ inches) and the javelin throw (158 feet, 3 inches).

Junior Jenny Kooser finished 10th in the 10,000-meter run, posting a 12-second personal best 36:18.08 to move up substantially from her 36:30.22, 18th-place qualifying seed.

Reed (37 feet, 6 and ¾ inches) and Bates (36 feet even) failed to qualify for the finals of the triple jump competition, while Bates’ :64.77 time in the 400-meter hurdles trials was off the :62.09 cutoff line. Even closer was senior Rachel Hepkins in the 400-meter run, as Hepkins’ Friday trial time of :57.50 was just six tenths of a second removed from the qualifying pace for finals competition Saturday.

“We had some breaks that didn’t go our way, but that’s sport,” Fogelsanger said. “Our efforts were outstanding, and we feel very blessed with our results.”

Fogelsanger must now say goodbye to a senior class that helped comprise three of the team’s All-American efforts and four of the seven athletes competing at the weekend event. If history is any indicator, it will be a group that will leave a lasting legacy.

“That’s the great part about this,” Fogelsanger said. “We had Chris Boyles and others calling us on the way home, congratulating us on how we did. Those relationships really last. I’m going to miss our seniors in a lot of ways, but they’re ready to move on. Hopefully, their experiences here have helped prepare them to be great employees, great spouses, great mothers and fathers. Even though they graduate, they’re always a part of the program.”

McMurry University won the men’s team championship with 35 total points, while the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Illinois Wesleyan University shared the women’s title with 35 points each. Complete results and scoring breakdowns can be found at the national championships website. Event-by-event finishes — including qualifying information — can be found at www.raceberryjam.com.