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NCAA Championships • St. Paul, Minn.
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WINONA, Minn. — On May 3, Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) completed her record-setting performance in the heptathlon at the MIAC Multi-Events, posting a score of 4,268.
Not only did that total earn Dingels a spot in the Saint Mary's University outdoor track and field record book, but it was also a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Division III outdoor championships.
Problem was, her total only provisionally qualified her for the national championships — meaning the SMU freshman had to wait and see whether her mark would be good enough.
So she waited … and waited … and waited … .
On Monday evening — 18 days after the MIAC Multi-Events had concluded — the waiting was finally over.
And for Dingels, the wait proved to be worth it as her school-record heptathlon mark was one of three provisional qualifiers included in the national-championship heptathlon field of 17.
"Ashley's qualifying for the nationals is a great accomplishment, especially considering she is the only freshman in the heptathlon field," said SMU coach Paul Thornton, noting that Dingels will begin competition on Thursday in the 100 hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 events, then will conclude with the long jump, javelin and the 800 on Friday. "Usually, it takes an athlete two or three years to get to the level where they can compete nationally in the heptathlon. Fortunately, Ashley is such a quick study, she was able to put it all together right from the start."
And it was from the start — way back in October — that Thornton and Dingels began harboring ideas of a national-championship berth in the heptathlon.
"This was our goal from the very beginning," admitted Thornton, who has now coached Dingels to back-to-back national championship appearances, as the freshman placed ninth in the high jump at the NCAA Indoor National Championships in March. "Qualifying for the (indoor) nationals was a feather in Ashley's cap and kind of got her track career off and running. But this, qualifying for the heptathlon, is what she really wanted — and she's focused to go out there and put it all together."