Kurrat storms back for fourth in heptathlon

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – University of Idaho junior heptathlete Manuela Kurrat saved her best for last during the final day of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Kurrat had the best marks in the heptathlon’s final two events, the javelin and 800-meter run, to jump from 15th to fourth place in Saturday’s competition at Sacramento State University’s Hornet Stadium.

Kurrat finished with a personal-best 5,714 points, boosted by the 744 she received for having the top javelin throw (144 feet, 4 inches) and the 966 she picked up for a career-best time of 2 minutes, 9.89 seconds in the 800 – also tops in the field.

Kurrat stood in 14th place after leaping 18-1 3/4 in the day’s first event, the long jump.

“The wind was really troubling (Kurrat) and she had some trouble getting her approach right,” said Vandals coach Yogi Teevens.

Teevens said Kurrat was slightly disappointed in the javelin, despite moving into eighth place with the best effort in the field. The 800 was the perfect ending.

“She ran a really smart race and basically ran down the lead girl during the last 300 meters,” Teevens said.

Eastern Michigan’s Lela Nelson won the title with 5,878 points, 84 more than first-day leader Jessica Stockard of Georgia.

Washington State University redshirt sophomore twins Julie (5,650 points) and Diana (5,595) Pickler placed fifth and sixth, respectively, with lifetime-best performances.

The twins entered the final event in third (Diana) and fourth (Julie) places.

Diana, the eldest by 4 minutes, had moved up from fifth place after throwing 127-1 in the javelin. Julie, the Pacific-10 Conference champion, threw the javelin 125-0 to move up two spots from sixth.

“They scored in the 5,400s at the Texas Relays, scored in the 5,500s at the Pac-10s and both bettered those totals at the NCAAs, with Julie reaching 5,600 and Diana just missing,” said WSU head coach Rick Sloan.

WSU senior Tamara Diles tied for seventh in the women’s pole vault, an event won by University of Washington senior Kate Soma.

Diles, who entered the meet with the nation’s ninth-best mark (13-7 1/4 ), cleared 13-5 1/4 .

Soma, a five-time All-American, won with a clearing of 14-1 1/4 . Her pole snapped in half on her first attempt at 14-5 1/4 .

WSU’s women scored eight team points and finished in a tie for 29th.

Also at the meet, Arkansas sophomore Wallace Spearmon sprinted away from an outstanding field to defend his 200 title in a world-leading 19.91, then announced he was turning pro.

The Arkansas men won their third consecutive team title, finishing with 60 points. Florida (49) was second.

Texas clinched the women’s title with a victory in the final event, the 1,600 relay. The Longhorns scored 55 points, seven more than South Carolina and UCLA.

At dusk, as the final day of competition came to an end, LSU set a collegiate record at 2:59.59 in the men’s 1,600 relay. The quartet of Bennie Brazell, Xavier Carter, Reginald Dardar and Kelly Willie broke the collegiate and meet record of 2:59.91 set by UCLA in 1988.

There also were meet-record performances by Florida sophomore Kerron Clement in the 400 hurdles, UCLA’s Monique Henderson in the 400 and UCLA’s Candice Baucham in the triple jump.