Crystal Helm '97 was a two-sport star at Ripon College. She came to campus as a freshman hoping to contribute to Julie Johnson's women's basketball team, but left as a three-time National Qualifier and All-American in the Javelin for the Red Hawks' Track & Field squad. Also a two-time Second Team All-Conference selection on the basketball court, Helm was inducted into Ripon's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
"When I first came to Ripon, my intent was to only play basketball, but as my freshman year began, I soon realized that when you're part of a team at Ripon, it's not just a team - it's a family - and you really develop some great relationships," Helm said. "Midway through the basketball season, I was sidelined due to injury and I started thinking about the track season that would soon begin. That's when I decided that I wanted to be part of that family as well. The best decision I ever made was when I became part of two amazing families at Ripon, which I will never lose."
Twenty-four years after her graduation, Helm still holds Ripon's school record in the Javelin with a throw of 132-09. She finished eighth in the event at the 1995 National Championships, which earned her All-American status. She would qualify again for Nationals in 1996 and 1998, making her one of just three female student-athletes in program history to earn that distinction at least three times, while also winning the conference championship in the Javelin in all three of those years.
"Like so many great student-athletes, Crystal's biggest strength was her mental toughness. She didn't like to lose and her competitive spirit pushed her through many meets," former Ripon Track & Field Coach Robert Duley said. "Event flexibility was another strength of hers. Whether it was a running event, the high jump, or the javelin, Crystal competed at the highest level and never gave less than she was capable of giving. She was a coach's dream both on and off the track and the court."
A native of Brillion, Wis., Helm also excelled on the hardwood, where she scored 809 career points, which ranked eighth in program history at the time of her graduation and currently ranks 19th. Her 619 career rebounds were the third-most when she graduated, and still ranks seventh. One highlight of her career came as a sophomore when she helped the Red Hawks qualify for the 1996 NCAA Tournament as part of the program's first-ever MWC Championship team.
"We played that NCAA Tournament First Round game in Michigan and even though the outcome was not in our favor, it had still been a great season. We then loaded the bus back to Ripon and one of my teammates and I started talking about how the track team was leaving for Iowa the next afternoon for the MWC Indoor Championships. We arrived in Ripon at about 3:00 in the morning and after my 8 a.m. class at the then-Storzer Center, I went to the gym and practiced the high jump and by 4:00 that afternoon, I was on another bus to Iowa," recalled Helm. "Being allowed the opportunity to compete in both sports within a 48-hour time span was an amazing feeling and for both Coach Johnson and Coach Duley to want it to happen made it even better."
Both of those coaches, along with Coach Johnson's long-time assistant Pat Gonyo, left an impact on Helm that can still be felt today.
"All three of those coaches showed their passion for what they did by spending hours on end preparing their teams to be successful, while also keeping them competitive and developing life-long friendships and an amazing feeling of being a second family," Helm said. "I try to take advantage of any opportunity to go back to Ripon or get together with other Alumni because of the family feeling that Ripon College instilled in me, while at the same time getting an amazing education and playing multiple sports."
Just one year after playing her final game in a Ripon College uniform, Helm was hired as a Physical Education and Health Teacher in the Seymour Community School District, where she has worked for the last 22 years. She began teaching at Seymour High School in Seymour, Wis., before transferring to Black Creek Elementary and Middle School. Helm also serves as Seymour Middle School's eighth grade girl's basketball and volleyball coach.
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