Hall of Fame

Kristin Bailey (Shern)

  • Class
  • Induction
    2019
  • Sport(s)
    Cross Country, Track & Field
“Her very first race in cross country, she was last,” explained her high school cross country and track & field coach Kenny Wilson. “We actually had the team on the bus as she was coming in to finish the race. The head coach at the time, took her and just told her to get on the bus. That was her start.”
 
As a competitor, she made leaps and bounds both on the track and on the course. 
 
As a high school senior, Kristin placed third at the 1989 Colorado High School State Cross Country Championships and quickly focused her attention on competing at the college level. Two regional Division I schools had interest in her, but both institutions did not believe she would be in contention to make the traveling squad. Ultimately, she decided to attend Adams State, which ended up being the perfect match student-athletes strive for.
 
At Adams State, Kristin was pivotal in the Grizzlies’ historic national championship run. She was a member of ASU’s first four consecutive national championship teams in cross country (1991 NAIA; 1992-1994 NCAA) and the program would go on to win five more DII championship titles in as many years, completing a run of nine straight titles (1991-1999). Individually, Kristin was the 1994 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Champion in the women’s 5,000-meter run and earned a total of 16 All-American honors throughout her career.
 
After graduating from ASU with a Liberal Arts/Elementary Education degree in 1995, Kristin continued to run professionally for several more years where she represented Nike, Asics, Fila and Reebok at various points of her career. She was also an Olympic Training Center Resident Athlete in Chula Vista, Calif. In 2008, Kristin was inducted into the Adams State Hall of Fame and in 2015, she was inducted into the RMAC Hall of Fame as a member of the 1991-1999 Adams State Women’s Cross Country teams.