Sara (Bohall) Putnam played soccer at Columbus East, but when she got to Earlham College, she discovered that running cross-country would be of greater benefit to her main sport — track and field.
Although the move didn’t provide immediate results, it proved fruitful in the end. She qualified for the Division III national championships as a senior and finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles to earn All-American honors.
“I built a really great relationship with the track coach (Pat Thomas), and he was also the cross-country coach, and he convinced me that if I stuck with running, I’d have a better chance of making it to nationals (in track),” Putnam said. “I always thought cross-country was kind of a silly sport because I was a sprinter. But I was just a couple people away from making it (in track) my sophomore and junior years, so it seemed to help my senior year for sure.”
Her accomplishments are being remembered. The 32-year-old will be inducted into the Earlham College Athletics Hall of Fame during Friday’s Alumni Awards Dinner.
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At East, Putnam qualified for state three years in track. As a senior in 2004, she finished sixth at state in both the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles and ran on the seventh-place 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.
Putnam also was a four-year letterwinner in soccer. She was team MVP as a senior and was All-Hoosier Hills Conference, All-District, honorable mention All-State and Academic All-State her final two years.
Despite the accolades, she didn’t draw much athletic interest from colleges. She went to Earlham on an academic scholarship.
“Living in Columbus when I graduated, I felt like I didn’t really want to go to college,” Putnam said. “So getting involved in track helped me want to go to college. I felt like I was meant to be somewhere.” In high school, it was fun because I was involved with a lot of things, but I really liked track because it was something I was relatively good at.”
She certainly proved that at Earlham. She earned 16 All-North Coast Athletic Conference awards in indoor and outdoor track, capturing eight individual championships in the indoor 55 hurdles, the outdoor 100 hurdles (three times), and the outdoor 400 hurdles (four times).
In 2014, Putnam was named to the NCAC 30th Anniversary Outdoor Track All-Decade Team (for 2003-2012). The two-time Indiana Intercollegiate 400 hurdles champion held five Earlham track records at the time of her graduation, and continues to hold the school record as the all-time leading scorer in track with 563 points.
Putnam earned a degree in human development and social relations from Earlham and a masters in kinesiology from SIU-Edwardsville. She picked up the masters while living with her husband Adam in St. Louis.
In St. Louis, Sara started doing marathons and triathlons. Then, she joined the Arch Rival Roller Derby Smashinistas.
“I just got tired of doing individual sports and wanted to be on a team again,” she said.
Putnam spent five years on the St. Louis roller derby team, twice going to the international finals, before moving with Adam to Minneapolis. There, she played 2 1/2 years for the Minnesota Roller Girls Atomic Bombshells before retiring this year.
Putnam has worked as a biostatistician for the University of Minnesota School of Public Health for past year-and-a-half. She found out about her selection to the Earlham Hall of Fame in July.
“I was definitely excited,” Putnam said. “You work so hard when you’re in college, so it was fun to have a remembrance of my time at Earlham.”
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Name: Sara (Bohall) Putnam
Age: 32
High school: Columbus East
College: Earlham (undergrad), SIU-Edwardsville (masters)
Residence: Minneapolis
Occupation: biostatistician for University of Minnesota School of Public Health
Family: Husband Adam Putnam
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