Defying the Odds
Doctors said that Stacy Bates wouldn’t sit up, now she’s a D1 athlete.
by Kelly Hinseth | for Royal Report
When she was born, doctors speculated that she was never going to have the ability to walk, much less even sit up. Fast forward nineteen years later, Stacy Bates is now a division I track athlete at the University of Arizona.
Bates was born with a rare condition that occurs in one out of every 25,000 births called caudal regression syndrome or sacral agenesis. The condition is a congenital disorder in which abnormal fetal development of the spine occurs. In Bate’s case, it affects her legs which are abnormally shorter than her torso. Because of this, she has very little physical control of them.
Her physical situation does not allow her to walk. Because of this, Bates has alternated between using crutches and a wheelchair her entire life.
Over the years, Bates has gone through a number of different medical procedures and surgeries. In January of 2013, she went through a quadricep lengthening procedure that gave her the ability to slightly bend her legs, something that Bates had never experienced.
“Stacy Bates, you are bending your legs!” Bates recalls her mom saying tearfully as a machine helped her to bend her knees back and forth post surgery.
With all the doubts and the barriers in her way, Bates has never let any of these facts stop her from doing what she loves (or in her words, “what she wants”). She most definitely takes a humorous approach to almost any situation and to her overall outlook on life.
Stacy began playing on an adapted softball team when she was six years old. “Basically I began competing because I wanted to meet some fellow cripples,” Bates said, “and because I couldn’t play other sports,” she stifled a laugh.
In middle school, Bates joined the Anoka-Hennepin Mustangs, the adapted sports program for the Andover area. During her time as part of the team, she was a key factor in leading the group to multiple state championships in soccer, floor hockey and softball.
She continued to play for the Mustangs when she entered high school. However, it was then in ninth grade when she found the sport that would take her right into a college career, track and field.
Bates was one of the first in the Anoka-Hennepin school district and the first at Andover High School to compete in the wheelchair division in track and field. She became a huge asset to her team, making it to state her junior and senior and capturing the state title her junior year.
“I was also a national champion my junior year,” Bates casually added. When discussing her key accomplishments, it was most certainly noticeable of how much Bates downplays her successes and accomplishments. “That is just not me,” she shrugged, “I just don’t like to ‘flaunt’ my accomplishments.”
However, an impressive track record for the athlete speaks for itself. Some key highlights include a first place finish at state and nationals in the 100 and 200 meter her junior year.
High School was not only a series of domination for Bates, it was also when she met a person that would soon become her “long lost best friend” as they call one another, Caitlin Bengry. Bengry and Bates have been friends for five years now. “Stacy’s that person that you can literally talk about anything with,” Bengry said,
Bengry has never treated or seen Bates differently due to her situation.“I feel like she doesn’t have a condition. It’s just her it’s who she’s supposed to be.” Bengry said. It is this mindset that has kept their relationship strong for five years, even with an 1800 mile difference currently between the two.
After a successful high school track career, Bates was far from done. During the Spring of her senior year at Andover, she signed with the University of Arizona’s division I track program where she is currently competing.
Competing at a collegiate level, especially division I, Bates has experienced an extremely large difference than her experience at the high school level. “The time difference is a lot f****ing harder,” Bates said. As opposed to 3:00pm after-school practices, she now gets up at 6:00am every morning in order to hit the track. “And the workouts are a hell of a lot harder,” she noted as they had just completed a 10,000 meter workout the other day.
The motivation has most certainly not depleted despite the struggle of adjusting to working out and competing at a college level. “It’s definitely a struggle,” Bates said, “but I love doing it, I love being a track athlete so that’s what really keeps me going. The workouts are definitely harder but it’s all worth it when I get to compete.”
On top of that she is trying balance her athletic career, academics and social life as well as being 1600 miles away from home. Bates lives on campus, with her therapy dog named Phil, in Tucson, Arizona, far away from her hometown of Andover, MN.
There is one key factor that Bates strongly believes is the driving force that keeps her going every single day: “My faith is what keeps me going.” She holds strongly onto her relationship with Jesus as the catalyst that keeps her dedicated and motivated her in athletics and in life.
“I always say ‘do it for Jesus’ because without him, I most certainly would not be doing this today.”
