DANVILLE, Ky. - National champion Chloe Hein was a bit surprised when she found out her winning jump of 20 feet, 6 1/4 inches at the Division III NCAA Championship not only set a new record at the event but also gave her six of the top 10 longest jumps in Division III history.

"That's pretty amazing. It makes me very happy, but my mindset right now is that I want to continue to improve. So heck, give me the top 20 long jumps. I'm gonna keep working at it because there's more I can still do," said the Centre College junior from Alexandria, Ky.

Hein was the only jumper to go over 20 feet at the nationals and she beat the second-best jump by over a foot. Hein later came back to place 14th in the triple jump — an event she started only a few weeks prior to the national championships — with a mark of 37-10 1/2 to also earn an All-American honor in that event to now give her eight All-American honors in her three-year career.

Hein, who was fourth in the 2025 indoor nationals, said friends and family obviously congratulated her on the national title but so did people on campus that she didn't even know.

"It has been really nice to reap the rewards of having that big moment," Hein, who seemed to set a personal best ever meet during the indoor season, said. "I had a lot of my mind going into the (national championship) meet and knew it could either be the best meet of my life or really, really disappointing because there was a lot of expectation there.

"Some days you have a good day, some days you don't. My goal is to make sure that my good days and bad days are enough to still win. I was fortunate enough to have a pretty good day. I didn't expect to win, but I knew that it was highly likely. I didn't celebrate until the girl before me was done. Once that was over, I felt a feeling of relief that I actually did it."

Hein, a four-time national athlete of the week during the indoor season, shared her thoughts on a lot more during the interview.

Question: How did you keep increasing your distance in the long jump every week for about two months, including your jump of 21 feet, 2 1/4 inches, the longest jump in NCAA Division III history?
Hein: "I would say the biggest and simplest thing is I finally got the (take off) board. I had pretty far jumps my freshman year but I never got to the board. This year I consistently got to the board and that let me show my true potential. I really worked on my approach on the runway."


Question: Did going over 21 feet at the conference championship meet stun you?
Hein: "When I heard the distance in meters. I didn't know what the real conversion was, but I knew I finally hit  21. It was really surprising but I had been working really hard with all my coaches. I've gotten faster, I've gotten stronger, I'm more serious in the weight room. I worked out more over the summer than I have in the past. I feel like all those things added up to being able to show everything that I wanted to show this year."


Question: How many coaches do you work with since you have competed in the long jump, triple jump, 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4x400 meter relay?
Hein: "I work mostly with my sprints coach (Edwin Hagans) and jump coach (Ernest Mosheleketi). This year I really worked on organizing my schedule to make sure that I'm not overbooking myself. I jump three days a week before I do all my sprints. That's really helpful, and doubling that up has made me stronger at the same time. They don't argue anymore on who gets me because I communicate with them clearly that I'm doing this, and then I'm doing that, and usually everybody's happy again."


Question: Did it disappoint you that you scratched out of the 200 at nationals after qualifying for the event?
Hein: "We debated it for a very long time. I sat down with all the coaches and they asked me and Serena (McNeilly, national champion in the high jump and pentathlon) because we both had a lot of events to choose from. They asked us about the time conflicts (of the events) and what we did or did not want to do. I actually did a practice  where I ran a 200 all out, and then I went to see if I could long jump immediately. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't a safe option. I didn't want to do that when I knew that I had the national championship on the line.

"So, yeah, it was really disappointing but I knew it wouldn't have been a good decision, because I would have gotten one or maybe two jumps in the long jump, and then I would have had to run a 200 and I would not have been able to get my last jump in. My second jump was the furthest one, but it was just still too close to call. There was a girl at the meet that did the exact same thing that I would have had to do. She didn't do very well in the long jump, but she finished all-American in the 200. I would have had to have a PR (personal record) to make finals in the 200 which maybe I could have done but I am pretty satisfied with my decision."

Question: After you won the long jump national title and then came back the next day in the triple  jump was there pressure or was that all fun?
Hein: "I knew that triple jump was going to be more of a fun thing for me. It was actually only my second time triple jumping ever. I didn't do it in high school. I did it at conference, and I made it (to nationals), and I decided, 'Okay, I guess we'll see what happens.'  I didn't have really much stress about it. I didn't have anything to lose in that situation. It would have been more of an upset if I had done something special. But going forward I will be pursuing triple jump more because I feel like there's a lot of potential there. I went into the meet knowing that I didn't really know what my average triple jump was, so that was more of an experiment for me. I didn't know triple jump was really fun. I got some cute pictures from that. I learned some things about my form and everything. So it was more of a learning experience for me, but for outdoor (season) I will be taking it more seriously because I feel like there's a lot of potential."

Question: Did you decide on your own to spend more time in the weight room or did your coaches encourage that?
Hein: "I actually spent about the same but  take it more seriously now. Coach (Jeremy) Carlson and coach (Braden) Tabor are great at helping you when you ask for help about your form in the weight room. I've really worked hard on making sure that my form is good so that I'm actually working the right muscle groups."