Monday, June 01, 2009
Ballinger caps off historic season with national title
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University of Southern Indiana junior All-American Mary Ballinger capped off a historic academic year by claiming her first-career national championship at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships in San Angelo, Texas, on May 24. Ballinger won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a school-record time of 10 minutes, 22.98 seconds, less than three seconds off the NCAA II meet record and nearly 15 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. "She had her eye on the Division II record all spring," Head Coach Mike Hillyard said following the race. "We talked about that being the focus and how it would affect the pace of the competition if she went after the mark." Ballinger was aggressive from the start, with just one runner keeping up with her throughout the first 1,200 meters. "She had a couple of 86-second laps and closed with an 81-second lap," Hillyard said. "It was pretty windy on the back-stretch and with her running so far ahead of the field, she really had no shielding. The only thing that matters though is that she won the national championship." "I went out hard from the gun," Ballinger explained. "I ran my own race and that's what my goal was." The national championship is the seventh in USI history and the third by a female student athlete at USI. "It's great for the entire athletic program to add another one to the mantle," Hillyard said. "It's great for our program to have another national championship and with Mary being a junior we have a good chance to get another one next year." Ballinger recalled that the final lap of the race was probably the most difficult. "The last lap was probably the toughest, but it was thrilling coming toward the finish line and it was awesome to know that I was going to win my first big race." Her victory also capped off an amazing season for the Chesterton, Indiana, native as she completed the year with four All-America awards. Ballinger earned All-America accolades in cross country after finishing 10th at the NCAA II Championships, the highest placement by a female runner in school history. She went on to earn a pair of All-America honors in indoor track as she finished third in the 5,000 meters and helped USI's distance medley relay team to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA II Indoor Championships. In addition to Ballinger, juniors Lauren Crick (Evansville, Indiana) and Lacy Williams (Haubstadt, Indiana) as well as senior Christy Dixon (Owensboro, Kentucky) earned All-America honors for their performances on USI's DMR squad at the national meet. Ballinger, who earned All-GLVC and All-Midwest Region honors in cross country, was selected first-team All-GLVC in indoor and outdoor track. She captured GLVC titles in the indoor mile as well as the outdoor steeplechase and 3,000 meters. Her performances during the outdoor season, in which she won five of the six events she competed in, landed her as the NCAA II Midwest Region Female Track Athlete of the Year, marking the second time in the program's history that a student-athlete has garnered that accolade. The 2006 Chesterton High School graduate earned All-America honors in both cross country and indoor track as a sophomore in 2007-08. She was second in the 5,000 meters at the 2008 NCAA II Indoor Championships. A food and nutrition major, Ballinger was named the 2009 USI/Integra Bank Female Student Athlete of the Year. The daughter of Joseph and Ann Ballinger, she is a two-time Academic All-GLVC honoree. Dan McDonnell Sports Information 812/465-1121 or dmcdonne@usi.edu |
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