Fadden Wins Marathon at NAIA Championships

Scroll to the bottom of this page for a slideshow from the Championships!

(Edwardsville, Ill.)—Houghton College sophomore Kaitlin Fadden, a graduate of FDR High School in Hyde Park, N.Y., won the women’s marathon at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ 2008 Outdoor Championships Saturday morning with a time of 2:57:10.

“It was an incredible race, especially considering the tactics,” said Matt Dougherty, assistant coach for the Houghton track and field team, “She was neck and neck with the other girl—and lost the lead twice.”

The “other girl” was Fawn Whiting of the University of British Columbia, who finished second, less than 200 meters back in 2:57:46. Whiting passed Fadden early in the race and then passed her again with approximately four miles to go, building a lead of about 15 meters. “I thought she looked really strong and I was a little worried,” Fadden said, “Then I thought, ‘Well, I should at least try.’”

Try she did. Fadden came back and caught Whiting, passing her with less than two miles to go. What were her thoughts then? “Can I hold her off for two more miles?” Fadden said, “I didn’t know what kind of kick she would have left.”

Not enough, as it turned out. Fadden kept the pressure on and kept watching for Whiting. When did she know she had it won? “Not until about 200 meters left,” Fadden said.

Did she have a kick left then? “I wouldn’t know if you could call it a kick,” she said, “it was definitely a different feeling, a whole different kind of pain.”

“It’s a great championship victory for her,” said Bob Smalley, head coach of the Highlanders, “It was an impressive effort—and to finish in a sub-three [hour] time is special, especially her first time out.”

That’s correct, this is the first time Fadden has ever run the marathon; in fact it is her first race longer than the half-marathon distance she ran to qualify for the national meet. “We didn’t know what to expect,” said Smalley. “We thought she could make All-American, based on her half-marathon time.” To be an All-American, Fadden had to finish in the top six. “This certainly was beyond our expectations,” Smalley added.

In another first, Fadden’s championship is the first NAIA national title—either for a team or an individual—for Houghton College. “It’s quite an accomplishment,” said H. “Skip” Lord, Houghton’s athletics director, who was on hand to watch the race, “We are all quite pleased for her and proud of what she’s done. Our guys did really well in their race, too.”

Overshadowed a bit by Fadden’s title was the performance of the three Houghton men competing in their marathon race. Jacob Connor and Mike Platt finished together in 16th and 17th place (out of 61 entrants) in 2:38:28 and 2:38:29. Joe Campagna was 34th, with a time of 2:48:15.

Their efforts ended the three-day national championship meet for the Highlanders, who sent a school-record 12 competitors. In addition to Fadden’s title, Rachel Rhodes earned All-American status with her fourth-place finish in the women’s 3000M race walk.

The Highlanders’ other representatives included Naomi Christensen, who made it to the semifinals of the women’s 400M and Steve Scott who made it to the semifinals of the men’s 400M hurdles. Zach Adams competed in the finals of the men’s 5000M race walk, but was disqualified for a “bent knee,” which is against the rules of race walking. The men’s 4 X 800 relay team of Johnny Kimani, Dan Ballard, Jesse McConnell and Landry Jarvis posted a 7:52.40 in the preliminaries, but did not advance.