May 7, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - A pair of Arizona State track and field student-athletes sit atop the standings of the 2004 Pac-10 Multi-Event Championships following the first day of competition being held at Roy P. Drachman Stadium in Tucson Friday night. Freshmen Jacquelyn Johnson and Joshua Kinnaman, in their first conference meet, lead the heptathlon and decathlon events, respectively, with one more day of competition to be contested.
On the women's side, Johnson (Yuma, Ariz.), the NCAA indoor runner-up in the pentathlon this season, holds a 161 point lead over California's Brooke Meredith as the Sun Devil rookie won two of four events to accumulate 3,421 points after day one. Johnson started the meet on the right foot as she clocked a 13.65 to win the 100m hurdles and tally 1,028 points. She improved her standing in the second event as she cleared 1.70m (5-7) in the high jump to win the event and claim 855 points. In the shot put, Johnson finished as the runner-up with a throw of 12.09m (39-08.00) while Meredith took first with a toss of 12.64m (41-05.75). In the final event of the day, Johnson placed fifth in the 200m dash at 25.17 and held on to the overall lead as Meredith finished sixth in the race.
Kinnaman (Chandler, Ariz.), in just his second attempt at the decathlon, competed in five events on the day, winning just one but taking second place in three others. In the opener, Kinnaman placed second in the 100m dash at 10.87 to earn 890 points. Trailing Tommy Skipper of Oregon by 41 points, Kinnaman won the long jump with a leap of 7.27m (23-10.25) to garner 878 points and take the overall lead from Skipper.
From there, Kinnaman finished third in the shot put with a heave of 12.76m (41-10.50) to earn 653 points and build his lead. For the second field event in a row, Kinnaman placed third as he cleared 1.94m (6-4.25) in the high jump for 749 points heading into the final event of the day. In the 400m dash, he clocked a 49.77 to finish second and capture 825 points for a total of 3,995 points. Kinnaman is just 39 points ahead of another OU competitor, Ryan Voge, the runner-up right now who has 3,956 points.
If Johnson can maintain her lead, she would become the first Sun Devil woman to win the conference heptathlon title in school history. Kinnaman is trying to become just the second ASU man to win the decathlon as Dannie Jackson did so in 1979.
Both multi-event athletes will look to retain first place Saturday as the final day of competition concludes. Johnson will compete in the long jump, javelin and 800m run while Kinnaman will compete in the 110m high hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500m run.