Ball State graduate Cathy Grimes wanted a man who was attractive, intelligent and successful with clear goals in life and an adventurous spirit. She went on television to find him.
Grimes, 22, is currently one of a group of 15 women competing for the affections of a well-to-do management consultant, known simply as Alex, on the ABC reality show, "The Bachelor."
As described on ABC.com, the series brings together 25 women, chosen from a nationwide search, who travel to exotic and romantic locations with the 31-year-old bachelor. Along the way he introduces them to his friends, family and hometown, in a quest to find the right woman to spend the rest of his life with. At the end of each show he hands roses to each of the women he wants to continues seeing.
Ten contestants were eliminated in the first episode last week, and seven more are slated to be eliminated this week. Grimes made it into the second round.
Grimes was unavailable for comment, but on "The Bachelor's" Web site she cites her proudest accomplishment as "balancing my time as a collegiate diver on the swimming and diving team." As a diver at Ball State, Grimes earned two letters and received the MAC Commissioner's Award for Academic Excellence.
"She's a very bright individual," swimming and diving coach Laura Seibold-Caudill said. "When she graduated she had a 3.9 GPA. She had the highest GPA of anybody on the team."
Grimes graduated magna cum laude from the Honors College in Spring 2001. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in physical therapy at Northwestern University at Chicago.
"She always wanted to go to medical school," Seibold-Caudill said. "I think later on, in her last year, she decided how many more years of school that would be, so she decided to go into physical therapy, because she knew she could finish in a few years and be out in the field practicing."
Friends described Grimes as an outgoing, fun-loving extrovert, which they cite as one of the reasons she went on the show.
"She's very willing to try different things," senior Heather Nance said. "She needed a break from school, and this was the perfect opportunity for her to go to California. She loves the water and warm weather."
"It doesn't surprise me she would be on the show, because that's just the type of personality she has," Seibold-Caudill said. "She was the type of person who always wanted to try something out of the ordinary.
Nance said Grimes entertained the idea of marriage while in school, but had trouble the right person.
"She eventually wanted to get married, but she didn't have the greatest luck (with relationships)," Nance said. "She didn't really date very many people, but her senior year she dated a guy for close to a year."
On "The Bachelor" Web site, Grimes said her ex-boyfriend discussed marriage with her, but she thought they couldn't be together forever.
"The Bachelor" has been compared to the infamous Fox special "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire," and has drawn criticism for trivializing love and marriage. But Seibold-Caudill said she and the rest of the swimming and diving team are excited about seeing Grimes on television.
"So often you see the people who are on those types of shows and all they have is their looks, and they don't have much more behind that," she said. "I think Cathy's got so much more behind her.
"I'm excited to watch it. The women (from the swimming and diving team) are all taping it and then there are alumni e-mailing about seeing Cathy on television."
Grimes taped the show in January and the results will be announced when the series finishes its run later this month. Seibold-Caudill was coy about commenting on her chances, claiming she knew too much.
"I think (Grimes' chances) are good, but that's all I'm going to say," she said.
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