Looking through the results of the 2008 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships reads like a list of who’s who in the elite track and field world for the next decade.
Gwen Jorgenson, a junior from Wisconsin ran the mile. Molly Beckwith (Ludlow), a sophomore from Indiana in the 600. Gabriele Anderson (Grunewald), a junior from Minnesota in the 800.
While many future stars and stalwarts of the sport were toeing the line, one moment has continued to come back to mind, even well beyond this realm of track and field diehards, when sports fans talk about all-time great comebacks.
On March 2, 2008, the University of Minnesota’s Heather Dorniden (now Kampf) stepped to the starting line of the second heat of 600 meters, and a mere 1 minute and 31 seconds later, would forever be enshrined in sports comeback history.
When we asked about memories of the race, Heather said with a smile, “That is amazing it was already 15 years ago; I’m reminded of it so often that it remains so fresh in my mind.”
The race:
Heather would go on to have a phenomenal career, eventually donning the well-deserved nickname “Queen of the Road Mile” due to her prowess in the event. Running for ASICS in a career lasting through the 2020 USA Olympic Trials, Kampf would rack up 4 USA Championships, and was a mainstay among the top contenders in middle distance events for the better part of a decade.
Some interesting history around those 2008 Big Ten Championships, from a LOPE Magazine article titled The Fall:
Kampf lined up behind the top position on the podium—the place reserved for the winner. But someone else was standing there, too: A runner from Indiana, who seemed to want to say something to her. It seemed weird that someone would be standing in her spot. Hadn’t she seen Kampf cross the finish line in first? In fact, it was a little awkward. Then, all of a sudden, Kampf remembered the slow heat. She could swear she heard the announcer say after the race that she was the Big Ten champ in the 600 meters. There was no way she hadn’t won the thing, was there?
“Wait,” Kampf said to the Indiana runner, “what was your time?”
As it turns out, since the 600 meters was run in two heats, Heather would finish second overall based on time.
