May 7, 2006
Live results (via Oregon web site)
EUGENE, Ore. - The heptathlon and decathlon portions of the 2006 Pac-10 Track & Field Championships presented by 76 ProClean Gasolines came to a close Sunday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., with Jacquelyn Johnson winning the women's heptathlon for the second time in her career while Joshua Kinnaman finished second in the decathlon to pace the men. Ryan Ehler also competed in the decathlon, placing 12th overall.
Johnson's victory earned 10 points for the women's team, giving the Sun Devils an early one-point lead over both Washington State and Oregon, who each have collected nine team points. Arizona (five), Stanford (four) and California (two) round out the teams with scores following the heptathlon. In the men's team race, Oregon accumulated 11 points to take a one point lead over Arizona (10 points) while the Sun Devils sit third with eight points. Stanford (five), California (four) and Washington (one) round out the men's team scoring.
Johnson, who won the event as a freshman in 2004 before redshirting last year while playing basketball at ASU, had a stellar day as her three-event total of 2,372 points gave her a 427-point victory over Washington State's Julie Pickler, the 2005 conference champion. Johnson finished the weekend with a personal-best 5,987 points which ranks her second all-time at ASU, fourth on the all-time Pac-10 lists and was just two points away from tying Kelly Blair (Oregon) for the record point total of 5,989 set in 1993. Only the second champion to break 5,900 points, Johnson led wire-to-wire in the seven-event competition.
Johnson opened the day by placing second in the long jump with a mark of 5.90m (19-04.25) to garner 819 points and extend her lead to 247 points. Johnson sealed her victory in the sixth event as she won the javelin throw with a personal best mark of 43.62m (143-01) to earn 737 points and extend her lead to 392 points. Her mark in the event qualified her for the regional meet in the javelin and placed her 10th on the all-time list at ASU. In the final event of the meet, Johnson took to the track in the 800m run and clocked in at 2:20.55 to finish in third place and earn 816 points. All three of her marks on the day were season bests in the heptathlon.
On the men's side, Kinnaman, the first day leader, finished second overall for the second time in his career as he secured runner-up honors with 7,207 points while Ehler placed 12th overall with a personal best total of 6,135 points. Kinnaman opened the day with a season-best 14.93 in the 110m hurdles for 858 points to retain his overall lead after finishing fourth in the race.
Kinnaman then won the discus with a toss of 45.38m (148-11) to remain in first place after picking up 755 points. The turning point in the meet was the pole vault, where Kinnaman tied for eighth place with a clearance of 4.15m (13-7.25) for 659 points, placing him second overall. He then finished 13th in the javelin with a toss of 36.82m (120-10) for 396 points before closing out the day with a time of 4:59.59 in the 1,500m run to place seventh in the race for 562 points.
Ehler recorded season-best decathlon marks in four of five events on the day to record a personal best day two total of 2,785 points. Ehler opened by placing 12th in the 110m hurdles at 17.10 (614 points) before taking fifth place in the discus with a toss of 37.91m (124-4) for 622 points. He then placed seventh in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.25m (13-11.25) to grab 688 points before placing 10th in the javelin with a toss of 42.97m (141-00) to collect another 485 points. In the final event, the 1,500m run, Ehler placed 13th overall in a personal best time of 5:40.57.
Next weekend, the entire Sun Devil team heads to Eugene for the remaining events of the Pac-10 Championships where the team race also will be decided. The meet will be contested on May 13-14.