VINCENNES, Ind. – Natalia Bartnovskaya Price was a five-time NJCAA Division I national champion as a Vincennes University women’s track and field athlete and now she will be a NJCAA Hall of Fame member.

Price, who competed as Natalia Bartnovskaya, is being inducted into the NJCAA Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place Friday in conjunction with the NJCAA Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships at Prentice Gudgen Complex in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Price was visiting her native Russia when she received the news via email from VU Assistant Track and Field Coach Tim Marsee.

"I'm grateful for my overall experience at Vincennes University," Price said. "The people who I met on my journey at Vincennes helped me to get where I am right now."

Price became the first female VU athlete to win a national championship in any sport. She won four national titles in the pole vault and one national championship in the long jump for VU. She won indoor pole vault national titles in 2011 and 2012. She claimed outdoor pole vault national championships also in 2011 and 2012. She was the indoor long jump national champion in 2012.

"Winning a national title for Vincennes University was a big deal because I was proud of representing VU and proud of my coaches because we accomplished something that no one had accomplished," Price said. "It was a great feeling."

She is the national record holder in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault. She vaulted 14 feet, 1 ¼ inches (4.30m) at the indoor meet in 2011 and vaulted 13 feet, 9 ¾ inches (4.21m) at the outdoor meet in 2012.

Price was national runner-up in the long jump at the 2011 indoor meet and 2012 outdoor meet. She was named National Athlete of the Year three times.

She continued her college career at the University of Kansas where she became the 2013 NCAA indoor pole vault national champion. Her runner-up finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships helped the Jayhawks win the national title. She is a member of the University of Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame.

Price is a real estate agent and lives in Lawrence, Kansas with husband Brett Price.

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