Karen Bakewell set a meet record in the 800 meters at the 1986 NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships in Indianapolis. Submitted photo

EDITOR’S NOTE: Karen Bakewell is one of nine inductees in the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024. The other inductees are Daniel Bryner, Cheryl (Miller) Burns, Tom D’Angelo, Doug Kaltenbach, Rod Maloy, Car lene Sluberski, Karen Tellinghuisen and Judy Young. These nine individuals will be formally inducted at the CSHOF’s 42nd induction banquet on Presidents’ Day, Feb. 19, 2024. Tickets are available by calling banquet chairman Chip Johnson at 716-485-6991.

The only athlete in Chautauqua County history to win an individual NCAA Division I track and field championship, and to set a meet record in doing so, has become a 2024 inductee of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.

Karen Bakewell, running for Miami (Ohio) University, broke the tape first in the 800 meters, with a meet record of 2:00.85, at the 1986 NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships in Indianapolis.

Bakewell’s talent for running fast became evident at Washington Middle School and blossomed at Jamestown High School and with the Chautauqua Striders under the direction of CSHOF inductee Ron

Graham. In 1983, she broke the JHS 200-meter mark and was a member of teams that set new JHS records in the 4×200- and 4×400-meter relays.

While running for the Striders, she won a bronze medal at the TAC Age Group Nationals at Dayton, Ohio and a silver medal in the 200 meters at the Region 1 Junior Olympics in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1983. Her silver medal performances in the 200 and 400 at the 1983 Empire State Games in Syracuse, drew the attention of Richard Ceronie, who would later become her coach at Miami (Ohio) University.

He recalled, “She had a beautiful stride pattern, long and flowing, and I thought she would make an ideal 800-meter runner.”

Following her graduation from Jamestown High in 1983, Karen found immediate success as a freshman at Miami. She set Miami University indoor track records for 200-, 300-, 400- and 500-meter races and

Miami University outdoor track records in 100-, 200- and 400-meter races. She was the 1984 Mid- American Conference indoor 400-meter champion and the 1984 Mid-American Conference outdoor champ for 400 meters. She ran a 53.4 400 meters, at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

After a red-shirt year in 1985, Bakewell picked up right where she left off. She was the 1986 Mid-American Conference indoor track champ for 500 meters and the Mid-American Conference outdoor track champ in both 400 and 800 meters. For her remarkable season, she was named 1986 MAC Female Track Athlete of the Year

Then came the previously mentioned 1986 NCAA Division I National Championship 800 meters, in a new meet record of 2:00.85. She was the first USA female collegiate runner to break 2:01 and was ranked 10th in the world. She was selected as a 1986 NCAA Division I Track & Field All-American.

The next season Karen set a new Miami record in the indoor 600 meters, and during the early outdoor season recorded the fastest 400 and 800 times in the MAC. But she sustained an injury that halted her career.

Coach Ceronie summarized his thoughts about Karen Bakewell with these words: “She was the finest track and field athlete in Miami University’s track and field program. She excelled at the NCAA Championship level and was world-ranked. I have helped coach six Olympians, nine NCAA individual champions and over 100 conference champions. In my opinion, Karen Bakewell is the very best athlete I ever coached and, if not for her injury, would have been an Olympian and world record holder.”

Bakewell is retired and resides in Fairport, New York.