From Last to First: A RMAC Hall of Fame Feature on Kristin Bailey's TF/XC Career at Adams State
RMAC Media Relations
This is the fifth profile of six individuals being inducted into the 2019 RMAC Hall of Fame on Friday, July 12 at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel. The 2005 Fort Lewis Men's Soccer Team will also be inducted. Click here to read the features on Kate (Murphy) Avila, Frank Gross, Frank Christensen, and Tom Beeson.
Kristin (Shern) Bailey’s career didn’t start off with first-place trophies in hand. In fact, during her first-ever cross country race for Smoky Hill High School (Aurora, Colo.), Kristin finished in last place and her eagerness to improve is what drove her to become one of the most decorated women’s track and field and cross country student-athletes in Adams State University (formerly Adams State College) history.
“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.”
Although many would shy away from the challenge and wonder why they would put themselves through the physical and mental pain of doing a sport that didn’t come easy, Kristin took the challenge head on.
“She wanted to improve, she wanted to be better, [and] wanted to be good,” said Wilson. “Kristin did what it actually took to be good.”
As a competitor, she made leaps and bounds both on the track and on the course.
“She was very competitive,” remarks Wilson. “[In high school,] Kristin would run the 3,200-meter run, place in the top four or five, and then come back ten minutes later and run on our 1,600-meter relay [team]. She was very successful.”
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.
“There was an invitational at Air Force, and those two Division I schools that she contacted and visited, were there.” Wilson explained. “When the final results came in, she beat everyone on both squads. She felt like she had something to prove, and she went out and did it.”
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.
“Knowing the kind of person and athlete that Kristin is, I wasn’t sure how far she could go but I had no doubt that she would be successful in whatever she did,” said Wilson.
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.
Kristin will be honored at the 2019 RMAC Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel on Friday, July 12. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit
www.RMACSPORTS.org/HOF2019.