Picklers in hunt; Lamb grabs third

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In the women’s heptathlon at the NCAA Track and Field Championships, identical twins Julie and Diana Pickler of Washington State University are tied for third halfway through the eight-event competition.

Each of the Picklers fared well through Friday’s four events at Hornets Stadium, scoring 3,451 points. The event concludes today.

Jacquelyn Johnson of Arizona State leads with 3,526 points. Tracy Partain of Missouri State is second with 3,516 points.

In the men’s discus finals, freshman Matt Lamb of WSU placed third with a mark of 189 feet, 5 inches. The event was won by Vikas Gowda of North Carolina State (198-8).

In the men’s high jump, Central Valley High product David Pendergrass, a junior at Brigham Young University, placed seventh by clearing 7-2 ½.

In the heptathlon’s events, Diana Pickler won one outright and tied for first in another:

•In the high jump, Diana tied for first by clearing 5-10 and Julie finished tied for eighth at 5-7 ¾;

•In the shot put, Julie was fifth at 4-1 3/4 and Diana was 15th at 38 feet;

•In the 200-meter dash, Diana won the event in 24.31 seconds while Julie was fifth in 24.68; and

•In the 100 hurdles, Julie was fifth in a time of 14.20 while Diana was 10th in a time of 14.46.

In semifinals, one Cougars male athlete advanced and one didn’t.

In the 400 hurdles, John Cassleman (Pullman High) had the seventh-fastest time (49.77) and advanced to the final.

In the men’s 200 semifinals, Justin Woods finished last in his heat and failed to advance to the finals with a time of 21.55.

Also on the track, Virginia Powell of Southern California broke the collegiate 100 hurdle record for the second time in three days, ending the fabulous USC career of the Seattle product with a win in 12.48.

Powell, who broke the record she shared with Gail Devers with a 12.55 in the semifinals Wednesday night, repeated as the event’s champion and won her fourth NCAA title overall.

The senior warmed up for the event by running the first leg of USC’s third-place 400 relay team an hour earlier. In the hurdles, she bolted from the starting blocks well ahead of the competition and was never in trouble. Canadian Priscilla Lopes of Nebraska was second in a personal-best 12.60.

“I didn’t even remember the race until I crossed the finish line,” Powell said. “That’s how much of a zone I was in. I’ve never felt like that.”

With the impressive performance, Powell has the top two times in the world this year – 12.48 and 12.55. Lopes’ 12.60 is the third-fastest time, followed by Powell’s 12.61.

The temperature was more than 90 degrees for the third day of competition.