ASU scores in Pac-10 Championships multi-event
The first two events of the Pac-10 Conference Track & Field Championships came to a close on Sunday afternoon with all five entries from the Arizona State University program recording personal-best scores while Keia Pinnick and Samantha Henderson placed in the Top 4 in the women’s heptathlon and Jamie Sandys was fifth in the men’s decathlon at the event being held in Berkeley, Calif. Pinnick placed third overall in the heptathlon with 5,219 points while Henderson was fourth with 5,126 points while the men’s decathlon saw Sandys place fifth (6,909 points), Austin Prince was ninth (6,515) and Jeremy Marcinko was 10th (6,395).
With those three finishes Top 5 finishes, they also picked up team points, including 11 for the women and four for the men. In the overall standings, Oregon leads the women’s team race with 14 points while ASU is second, UCLA is third (eight), Washington State is fourth (five) and Stanford is fifth (one) while UO also leads the men’s race with 16 points and is followed by Washington (eight), California (six), ASU, WSU (three) and UCLA (two).
In the heptathlon, Pinnick’s score of 5,219 points moved into fourth all-time in ASU history and became the fifth woman to score 5,200 points or more in the event while Henderson’s 5,126 points ranks as the sixth-best all-time at ASU and makes her the sixth different woman to break the 5,100-point barrier. The duo improved by 202 points and 380 points, respectively, over their previous career-best scores.
The men posted similar improvements to the women, including Sandys, who was 44 points from equaling the 10th-best score in team history while his 6,909 points left him just 91 points shy of becoming the 10th man in ASU history to break 7,000 points. Sandys improved his personal-best score by 552 points (about the same amount of points earned in two separate events on the day) while Prince’s 6,515 points was a 206-point improvement on his all-time score and Marcinko’s 6,395 points is a 244-point improvement.
Pinnick started her second day of action with a personal-best jump of 5.70m (18-08.50) for 759 points before adding 464 points with a toss of 29.32m (96-2) in the javelin. In the final event of the heptathlon, Pinnick scored 907 points by running 2:13.99 in the 800m run and breaking a 30 year old record by bettering Gea Johnson’s 1990 ASU heptathlon 800m record of 2:14.50. For the weekend, Pinnick recorded three personal bests.
Henderson also turned in a strong second day as she opened with 741 points in the long jump with a leap of 5.64m (18-06.00) before throwing 34.19m (112-2) in the javelin for another 556 points. She finished with 567 points in the 800m run (2:40.50) to help her to a 167-point improvement on her season-best heptathlon score.
Sandys, perhaps, had the best weekend of all the Sun Devils as he added two more all-time bests and two decathlon personal-best marks to help him reach his personal best overall score. He opened the day with 782 points in the 110m hurdles by running 15.57, his first of two decathlon personal bests on the day, before throwing the discus 34.84m (114-4) to add 560 points. His second decathlon personal best came in the pole vault with his clearance of 4.25m (13-11.25) to collect 588 points. Sandys then recorded two more personal-bests by throwing the javelin 48.69m (159-9) for 569 points and then running 4:31.05 in the 1,500m run for 738 points. Overall, Sandys recorded six all-time personal-best marks and three more decathlon personal bests.
Prince was just outside the scoring as he took ninth overall and added three all-time personal-bests (discus, 1500m and overall score) and two more decathlon personal-bests (110m hurdles and javelin). He started the day with 612 points in the 110m hurdles (17.12) before throwing the discus 32.23m (105-9) for 508 points. Prince cleared 4.45m (14-07.25) in the pole vault for 746 points and threw the javelin 50.47m (165-7) for another 596 points before closing out his day with 688 points after running 4:38.76 in the 1,500m run.
Marcinko, like his teammates, also had a strong day and recorded three all-time personal bests (pole vault, 1500m and overall score) and two more decathlon personal bests (110m hurdles and javelin). He opened with 666 points in the hurdles by running 16.61 and then added 518 points for a toss of 32.72m (107-4) in the discus. He then improved by nearly four inches in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.85m (15-11.00) for 865 points before collecting 554 points with a toss of 47.65m (156-4) in the javelin. Marcinko closed out the meet with a time of 4:38.04 in the 1,500m run to add his final 693 points of the competition.
Across the board for the weekend, the five Sun Devil competitors recorded 21 all-time personal best marks/scores while adding 12 heptathlon/decathlon event personal-best marks/scores.
The remaining events of the Pac-10 meet will be held next Saturday and Sunday in Berkeley.