Barnes won the NCAA Division III outdoor pole vault championship in 2005 and the indoor national title last March. She has also placed among the top four at nationals two other times. She owns the school indoor (12'9") and outdoor (12'11") records as well as the conference indoor mark (12'8").

Those results are amazing considering that as a freshman, she broke her back at a meet at St. Olaf although she placed third at the conference outdoor meet and qualified for nationals before she discovered the break. That was the last in a long series of injuries that plagued her throughout her career. She sat out her entire sophomore season to heal completely and since returning to competition has remained healthy.

Barnes received the team Most Dedicated Award last year after being named team Field MVP after the 2005 season. In addition to three letters in track, Barnes also lettered in gymnastics one year before giving up the sport to concentrate on the pole vault.

A kinesiology major with a 3.66 GPA, Barnes will graduate in August of 2007. Last spring, she was named to the ESPN The Magazine All-District 5 Second Team.

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