Not only are Centre College juniors Chloe Hein, right, and Serena McNeilly both national champions but they are also roommates on road trips. (Centre College Athletics Photo)
(Vaught’s note: This is second part of a three-part series with the Centre College junior national champion)
Centre College junior Chloe Hein won the long jump at the Division III NCAA Championship with a record setting leap of 20 feet, 6 1/4 inches while junior teammate Serena McNeilly won national championships in the pentathlon and high jump.
The two combined to score 43 points and enable Centre College to finish third in the team standings — both also placed in the triple jump with McNeilly second and Hein 14th — despite having only two participants.
“There’s nothing Chloe Hein cannot do if she puts her mind to it,” said Centre College assistant track coach Edwin Hagans. “She is a remarkable athlete and a very humble young lady.”
Question: Did watching what teammate Serena McNeilly did winning national championships in the pentathlon and high jump boost your confidence a bit at nationals?
Hein: “I knew that she was on a roll throughout all of the pentathlon. We didn’t really know if it was a possibility that she could win until towards the end because you never know what might happen in a specific event. We didn’t expect to come home with a (team) trophy (for finishing third with 43 points despite having only two competitors) or specifically win any of our events. But seeing her do really well, it did help. We’re there for each other no matter what the outcome of the meet is but having a confident, strong and powerful woman on the team alongside you, there’s nothing more you’d want.”
Question: How long did it take for you and McNeilly to become friends after you got to Centre as freshmen?
Hein: “We went to a lot of last chance meets together, and we’ve gone to every nationals together. I feel like that’s been really special for us. She was close friends with a lot of the seniors, so she was kind of closer with them that first year as we traveled. But I feel like this past year has been really helpful. We sometimes get dinner or lunch together. Sometimes we just sit in the locker room and chat for a little longer than we used to. We’re roommates whenever we travel. We listen to the same music and we do TikTok dances. Our relationship has really grown the past year because we’re everywhere together. It’s been a great relationship the past year.”
Question: What was the reaction from other teams at nationals when Centre won three national titles and finished third in the team standings with just two participants?
Hein: “We’re not the biggest team whenever we travel, so people don’t see it until we’re there. Me and Serena have gotten a few second team and first team all-American honors. People don’t realize that until you’re on the top of the (awards) podium. Now I feel that we have that recognition, people are going to be looking out for Centre College a lot more.”
Question: How do you approach the outdoor season coming off a national championship and record-seeing indoor season?
Hein: “I knew I wanted to go straight into outdoor because the outdoor season is a lot shorter than indoor. You have less meets to be able to make qualifying marks for nationals. Obviously, the goal is to keep jumping really far. We usually overload our workouts, so my legs won’t be the freshest every time I go to a meet. My goal is to make sure that my average is still improved over last year and making sure that it’s something that I can be proud of at the end of the day. Even if you have a bad meet, it’s not a bad meet unless you don’t learn anything from it. Not every meet has to be record breaking as long as I learn something from it.”
Question: Do you have any free time on campus?
Hein: “Recently, my life has been a lot of athlete-student. Track is really unfortunate in the sense that there’s a lot of Friday-Saturday meets, so you’re missing a lot of Friday classes. You have to stay on top of meeting with professors and doing your work outside of the hours of class. It helps that half of the campus (students) does a sport. You’re not alone in that sense. You’re always gonna have somebody to talk to about it.”
