EUGENE, Ore. -- Washington State junior Liz Harper, competing in her third collegiate heptathlon, is in 14th place after four events Friday at the NCAA Track & Field Championships at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene.
Harper, from Missoula, Mont., first day total of 3,398 points, 97 points below her first day PR total of 3,495 points set at the Pac-12 Championships.
She opened the day with a wind-aided 100m hurdles PR time of 13.74 seconds, 13th-best in the field of 24. In the very windy heptathlon high jump, she passed the first three bars and opened with a first-attempt clearance at 5-feet, 4 1/4 inches (1.63m). She cleared the next two bars at 5-5 1/4 and 5-6 1/2 on the first attempt too but needed all three attempts to clear 5-7 3/4 (1.72m). At the next bar height of 5-8 3/4 (1.75m) Harper again needed all three attempts but advanced. With the bar at 5-10 (1.78m), Harper was one of five still jumping. She missed on all attempts but her efforts moved her from 13th to sixth place.
Harper threw the shot put a distance of 35-feet 1/2 inch (10.68m) and moved to 13th going into the final event of the first day. Harper finished the first day with a 200m time of 24.93 seconds.
“Solid first day for Liz with a small PR in the hurdles,” WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Wayne Phipps said. “She came up with some key third attempt clearances in the high jump which is proving to be very important as she battles for an All-American spot.”
Akela Jones of Kansas State leads the heptathlon after one day with 3,951 points. Harper, one of two Pac-12 heptathletes, is 553 points behind the leader and 121 points behind the last scoring position at eighth.
The heptathlon resumes Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. with the long jump followed by the javelin throw scheduled for 12:45 p.m. and the 800m run at 5:13 p.m. Harper also qualified for the women's high jump and will compete in that event Saturday starting at 3 p.m. while still competing in the heptathlon. Her PR high jump height is of 5-11 1/4 (1.81m).
