McColly brings home national title in Women's Heptathlon

MARION, IND. – Sophomore Kaitlyn McColly became the first athlete in Dickinson State history to bring home a national championship in the Women's Heptathlon after she won the event on Thursday at the NAIA National Championships in Marion, Ind. 

McColly, from Hinsdale, Montana, started the multi-event competition strong, winning the first event, the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.56 seconds. She took sixth in the High Jump, thirteenth in the Shot Put, and seventh in the 200m Dash to round out day one as the overall leader.

On day two, McColly put up even better numbers, taking third in both the Long Jump and 800m Run and eighth in the Javelin to clinch the title with a score of 4,922 points.

Kaitlyn entered the week with big expectiations, coming in as the nations number one seed, and lived up to them with a dominating performance from start to finish to earn 10 valuable points for the Dickinson State Women's Outdoor Track & Field team.

"Kaitlyn has worked really hard and come a long way from this time last year," said head coach Shayne Wittkopp. "It's exciting to see that hard work pay off for an athlete. She's young and still can improve so much. The future is bright!"

Athletic Director Pete Stanton also added, "We are incredibly proud of Kaitlyn for this prestigious honor. She becomes the fifth female track and field athlete at Dickinson State to win an individual national title. Kaitlyn has worked very hard to achieve this incredible achievement and all of us are very happy for her and the team.