Three score for Sun Devils as Pac-12 combined events conclude
Keia Pinnick scored a career-best 5,703 points in the heptathlon en route to a runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Combined Events in Eugene, Ore., while senior Austin Prince took a career-best fourth in the decathlon for the Arizona State University track and field team on Sunday.
It was the second consecutive Pac-12 runner-up finish for the junior as she earned eight points towards the Sun Devils' team cause heading into next weekend's Pac-12 Championships. The score also increased Pinnick's hold on third place in school history in the event as well.
Pinnick took second behind Brianne Theisen of Oregon, who set a Pac-12 record with 6,307 points in her victory at Hayward Field.
Pinnick opened the day with a third-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 6.02m (19-09.00) before logging a throw of 33.05m (108-05) in the javelin throw for the seventh-best mark of the competition as she held on to her second-place hold in the event.
The junior concluded the day with a third-place finish in the 800-meter run in 2:13.78 to wrap up the two-day competition and easily hold on to her second-place hold.
The ASU women will now enter next weekend already sitting third in the team competition thanks to Pinnick's performance.
In the men's decathlon, seniors Austin Prince and Jamie Sandys continued their consistent performance from Saturday as they would go on to finish fourth and seventh, respectively, in the competition. Prince finished with 6,917 points while Sandys posted 6,854 over the two days. Prince's score was a career-best by nearly 150 points.
Prince logged the third-best pole vault of the day at 4.90m (15-09.00) to help him maintain his spot in the top-eight after falling behind a bit following the discus competition and followed the pole vault up with the fifth-best throw in the javelin throw at 47.87m (157-01) to enter the 1,500m in sixth-place.
Despite an eighth-place finish in the 1,500m, Prince finished ahead of some of the necessary competitors and his time of 4:35.39 moved him into fourth in the overall standings while Sandys' sixth-place finish in the race in 4:34.30 moved him into seventh overall after he bounced back from relatively low marks in the discus and pole vault competitions.
Oregon's Dakotah Keys was the individual champion, scoring 7,793 points.
It was the second conference point-scoring finish for both Prince and Sandys and the first time they achieved the finish in the same season, giving the Sun Devil men seven points heading into next weekend.
The Sun Devils will be back in action in Eugene next weekend with the main portion of the Pac-12 Championships, set to begin Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m. PST and continuing throughout the day.