Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
NCAA Championships
CSU finishes NCAA championships in strong fashion
6/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Outdoor Track & Field
June 14, 2008
Final NCAA women's heptathlon results
By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Rams might have two more All-American documents to display from this week's NCAA outdoor track and field championships. But they'll have to wait to find out.
The championships, held at Drake Stadium, concluded Saturday with Colorado State's senior duo of Emily Pearson (10th) and Katie Lloyd (13th) finishing their two-day heptathlon in strong fashion.
The top eight finishers are automatic All-Americans, but since Pearson (5,553 points) and Lloyd (5,445) finished outside that group, they'll have to wait a few days for the next-best option. That would be if they are among the top eight finishers born in the United States, and by initial glance, they are. The Rams' coaches are hoping the NCAA agrees with them in the coming days.
That means that if the NCAA also hands out All-America honors to Janay DeLoach, who's in a similar situation in the 100-meter dash, the Rams would have five All-American certificates, tied for most in school history with the 1998 team. Jason Schutz (discus) and DeLoach (long jump) solidified automatic All-America recognition earlier this week by finishing in the top eight overall.
"If this thing works out like it's supposed to," Head Coach Brian Bedard said, "we could potentially have five All-American performances. Considering that we took nine athletes out here, to have five All-American certificates coming home would be really good."
In 1998, Casey Malone (discus), Bryan Berryhill (1,500 meters), Shelly Greathouse-Borrman (discus and hammer) and Marne Findlay (5,000 meters) accounted for All-America honors in five events. The Rams have never had an All-American in the heptathlon, not to mention two in the same year.
Pearson rebounded to finish well Saturday, pulling out of a rut at the halfway mark. The highlight of the day for the Rams was her javelin throw, a personal-best 154 feet, 3 inches, to finish second in that competition to Iowa's Tammilee Kerr (155-08). The throw broke Pearson's previous mark of 153-04, set at last month's Mountain West championships, and helped her establish a personal-record of 786 points in the overall heptathlon. In program history, Saturday's throw was topped only by Liz Toman's 1998 toss of 163-02.
"She didn't open very well," Bedard said. "She struggled early in the long jump and she needed an event to turn her around a little bit. When she threw the jav, her teammates were there and her coaches were there cheering her on. She really got after it, and hit a big throw to get her back on track. It was a lot of fun to see."
Pearson got off to a good start in her first two events Friday, then had to battle Saturday.
"She struggled in her middle three events," said assistant coach Tim Cawley. "She wasn't terrible, but it wasn't what she normally can do. We were a little worried after the long jump, then she PRed in the javelin and executed the 800 just like we expect.
"So, she fell asleep a little there in the middle, but came back strong. Emily and Katie were only five points apart going into the last event. It was really fun."
Lloyd also finished her career in style. After ending Friday in 15th place, she moved up an important two spots to potentially set up herself for All-American honors.
"Katie had a great meet in just about every event," Cawley said.
She did it with a pair of personal bests, 135-04 in the javelin (to finish seventh) Saturday, and 42-06.25 in the shot put (fourth) on Friday.
"Considering she was 24th in the country starting out the competition," Bedard said, "she was one of the last to get into nationals, she competed really well from start to finish. She had a really solid meet. We were really proud of her."
The Rams now return to Fort Collins after what could go down as one of the most impressive team efforts at the national championships in program history.
"We saw the green Colorado state uniform out there quite a bit," Bedard said, "in the sprints, throws, jumps and multi events. It was pretty neat to see."
The next step
None of the Rams qualified for the U.S. junior nationals, but Drew Morano, DeLoach, Pearson, Kristen Hemphill and Schutz all provisionally qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials and will compete later this month in Eugene, Ore.
