Bender enjoys big breakthrough in pentathlon to move closer to securing NCAA Indoor berth

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

With Erica Bougard repeating as pentathlon champion and nearly setting the American record Friday at the USATF Indoor Championships, along with Kendell Williams securing another berth to compete at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, the national finals debut of UC Santa Barbara junior Hope Bender went under the radar at Albuquerque Convention Center.

BENDER INTERVIEW

But it might not have been the final pentathlon of the indoor season for Bender, who improved her status significantly in an effort to compete March 9 at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.

Bender placed fifth with a lifetime-best 4,149 points, elevating from 25th in Division 1 entering the meet to ninth, looking to become the first Gauchos multi-event athlete to qualify for indoor nationals since Barbara Nwaba earned All-America honors in 2011-12.

"It's just been such a day. It was one thing after another, just PR after PR," said Bender, who improved from a 3,884-point effort Jan. 26 at the University of Washington Invitational at the Dempsey Indoor facility in Seattle.

"I'm not going to say we didn't expect it, because we've been training for it. But for it to really happen, it just hits home, for sure."

Bender opened the day by clocking 8.61 in the 60-meter hurdles, slightly off her personal-best 8.53 when she ran on the same track Jan. 20 at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational.

She then cleared a lifetime-best 5-6 (1.68m) in the high jump, followed by another PR in the shot put with a 40-3.50 (12.28m) effort, before adding nearly a foot to her personal best in the long jump to leap 18-10.75 (5.76m). Bender finished by clocking 2:16.68 in the 800, a half-second off her performance in Washington and more than two seconds behind her outdoor PR in April.

"Just to feel the surface and the springiness, it was just absolutely a huge advantage to have felt it before and to know what to expect in terms of what I'd be able to do (Friday)," said Bender, who competed in the 60 hurdles, high jump and 4x400 relay during her previous trip to New Mexico.

"The high jump one was so special to me because last year in conference, that was where I no-heighted. So to come in (Friday) and really prove to myself, 'You can have these big PRs, you are a high jumper as well as you are a multi-eventer,' that meant a lot."

After scoring 3,211 points in her collegiate pentathlon debut in 2016, it took Bender more than two years to complete her next one at Washington. But it was a significant mental hurdle for the Newport Harbor CA graduate to clear in preparation for Friday's performance.

"UW in itself was so exciting, my first real invite pentathlon and to come away with such a big PR from the one I did freshman year, it was really just a great confidence boost," Bender said. "Last year with the heptathlon, I really struggled with just completing each event. Just to get through five events in one day and put up a good number, the confidence that it brought me alone benefited me in so many ways here (Friday)."

The top three finishers Friday -- Bougard, Williams and former Arkansas standout Alex Gochenour (4,405 points) -- combined for five NCAA Division 1 pentathlon titles and 10 All-America honors in the one-day showcase. Fourth-place finisher Emilyn Dearman (4,260 points) was an NCAA Division 2 champion and three-time pentathlon All-American at Pittsburg State, further illustrating the depth of the field Bender competed against.

"Sometimes, you just need some people to pull you along," UC Santa Barbara multis coach Gray Horn said. "This is certainly what we hoped for, but it honestly couldn't have worked out any better."

Bender will now wait to see if her score holds up through the Division 1 conference championship schedule to see if she qualifies among the top 16 to advance to nationals. The average cutoff score the past five years to compete at NCAA Indoor has been 4,090 points.

"I just want to maintain consistency. I think we've built such a great base over the fall and the winter that we don't really need to make huge adjustments," said Bender, who elevated to the No. 2 pentathlon performer in UC Santa Barbara history, trailing only Nwaba's 2012 program record of 4,244 points.

"I'm just going to try to stay healthy the next few weeks and build on what we've done here and not change too much, so hopefully we'll put ourselves in a good position at Texas A&M."