Hope Bender, a four-time NCAA Division 1 All-American at UC Santa Barbara and runner-up last year in the women's pentathlon at the USATF Indoor Championships, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss competing in the pentathlon Jan. 28 at the USATF Indoor Combined Events Championships at the Fall Creek Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center in Indianapolis. Bender, who achieved a personal-best 4,445 points to place second last year in Albuquerque, N.M., reflects on her breakthrough performance and her ambition to challenge for the title this season. She examines the USATF Indoor Combined Events Championships being showcased separately from the rest of the USATF Indoor Championships for the first time since the women's pentathlon and men's heptathlon were held in Annapolis, Md. Bender analyzes the return of Annie Kunz to the pentathlon at the USATF Indoor Combined Events Championships for the first time since winning the title in 2020 with 4,610 points in Maryland. She also speaks about the 12-athlete pentathlon field not including JaiCieonna Gero-Holt, a junior at Emerald Ridge High in Washington who has the potential to challenge the national high school record this year. Bender revisits her experience in August in Germany representing the U.S. at the Thorpe Cup in Marburg, her second opportunity to compete for the Americans including 2019, and being part of the victorious women's heptathlon lineup. She highlights fellow Americans Michelle Atherley and Erin Marsh winning heptathlon gold last year at the Thorpe Cup and Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, respectively. Bender also expresses gratitude for Texas State assistant coach Kendall Gustafson for mentoring her in the field events, along with Mississippi State assistant coach Gray Horn guiding her in the sprint events, as well as Memphis Grizzlies strength and conditioning coach Eric Schmitt for being part of her support system after moving from California in the fall. She explains her ambition to surpass 6,000 points in the heptathlon this year, along with her goal to eclipse the 4,600-point pentathlon barrier in Indianapolis.