DES MOINES, Iowa - For a stellar collegiate career that was spent primarily setting records, Chelsea Hayes closed it on a disappointing note. Still, finishing seventh in the nation in her second-best event is a pretty good result, even if it was disappointing only to her.
Hayes ran 11.58 in the 100m dash finals Friday at Drake Stadium to finish seventh in the nation at the 2012 NCAA Championships.
“It was horrible. My start was horrible. From then on, I knew that it was over,” Hayes said afterwards.
But in the end, even her slowest time of the year still broke another record. By finishing seventh, Hayes will be awarded another All-America title on Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the sixth of her career. She surpasses Bryant Wesco’s five All-America titles for the most top honors to be awarded a Louisiana Tech athlete.
More impressive, Wesco’s five honors came over a four-year time span. Hayes claimed all six of hers in only two years. Hayes said she is just thankful for the opportunity when asked if that honor means much to her right now. For now, she begins her transition away from collegiate competition.
“I am going to miss it but at the same time I am going to have my post-collegiate career to focus on now. Just knowing that I was given the opportunity and able to compete at Louisiana Tech is something I am very thankful for.”
While her NCAA career has come to a close, Hayes will continue to represent Louisiana Tech through the start of July as the New Orleans native has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trails in both the 100m dash and the long jump.
“I am very excited knowing that I could possibly make the team in the long jump,” said Hayes. “And even maybe make it past the first round in the 100m dash.”
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The knowledge that she isn’t quite done yet lessens the blow of a sub-par performance at the NCAA Championships.
“Yes [qualifying for the Trials lessens the blow],” Hayes said after a moment’s pause. “I know now that the week before I leave for the trials I am going to have to work even harder to fix everything that was wrong in my race today. I am going to work on and the same with the long jump, I am going to prepare as best I can for the Trials.”
In all, Hayes scored all eight of Louisiana Tech’s team points at the 2012 NCAA Championships after finishing third in the long jump Thursday and seventh in the 100m dash Friday. With one day’s worth of events still yet to be ran Tech is tied for 23rd with Southern Miss, Arkansas, Wichita State, UC Santa Barbara and South Dakota in the team standings, all thanks to Hayes.
While all endings are not happy it is hard not to admire a student-athlete that was a six-time All-American, 14-time WAC Champion, 18-time All-WAC, four-time WAC Athlete of the Year and four-time WAC High Point Scorer all primarily within the span of two years.
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