CONWAY, Ark. (May 30, 2013) – Elizabeth Krug, a biology major at Hendrix and Heber Springs, Ark. native, recently became a national heptathlon champion at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships on Friday, May 24, in La Crosse, Wis.
Aspiring for a career as a pediatrician since the age of 14, Krug, who will graduate in spring 2014, never imagined herself as college athlete simply because of the academic dedication she knew she would need to become a doctor.
While Krug could compete at a bigger school, she prefers running in D-III for the joy of it.
“People are always friendly and aren’t concerned with going pro, they just enjoy the sport,” said Krug.
In addition to the athletic opportunities, Krug attributes her Hendrix education to expanding her goals academically. With the support of Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning, she traveled to Europe last year, completed research in the kinesiology department, and plans on traveling to Guatemala this summer for a month of volunteer service
“I never imagined the opportunities I’ve been given before I came here,” she said.
Krug plans on starting the indoor season sometime in December, and she will compete in outdoors next spring during her senior year.
Krug’s goal for next year (apart from another national title) would be “to get a sub 25 second time in the 200 and a sub 15 time in the 100m hurdles,” she said.
In regards to her long-term future as an athlete, she imagines herself taking up half marathons and possibly triathlons.
“Overall I am blessed to win the national title for a school that I'm so in love with.”
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education. For the fifth consecutive year, Hendrix was named one of the country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the 2012 edition of the Princeton Review as one of the country’s best 377 colleges, the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges, Forbes magazine's annual list of America's Top 650 Colleges, and the 2013 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.