RESULTS (PDF)

AZUSA, Calif. — Donté Robinson fell 168 points short of qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the decathlon last season. Wednesday, while competing on the first day of the Bryan Clay Invitational at Cougar Athletic Stadium, Robinson showed every sign that he does not want to come up short again this season.
 
Robinson set personal bests in four of the five decathlon events Wednesday, and was only three-hundredths off his personal best in the other event, the 100 meters. That gave Robinson a personal-best first-day score of 3,856 points, 134 points better than his first-day score at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships last season where he set his overall personal best with a score of 7,307 points.
 
If Robinson can match his second-day score from last season's Big Sky meet when the decathlon resumes Thursday, he'd finish with 7,441 points – a score that should put him in qualifying range for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June. For comparison's sake, BYU's Kevin Nielsen advanced to nationals with a score of 7,475 points as the final qualifier in the decathlon last season. Half of the 24 athletes that made up the decathlon field at last season's NCAA Outdoor Championships were seniors, however, meaning the final qualifying mark this season could be lower.
 
Robinson scored over 800 points in three of the five events Wednesday, and came within six points of scoring 800 points in one of the other two events.
 
The one event where Robinson didn't set a personal best was the first event of the day, the 100 meters. Robinson finished the 100 in 11.14 seconds, just three-hundredths of a second behind his personal best of 11.11 seconds. Robinson followed up with a five-inch personal best in the long jump behind a mark of 22-10.00 (6.96m), and beat his previous best in the shot put by just over an inch with a throw of 38-06.75 (11.75m).
 
Robinson's hot streak nearly ran out in the high jump, as he needed a third-attempt clearance to get over the bar at 1.87 meters. Robinson came up clutch in that moment, however, and cleared four more bars to finish with yet another personal best of 6-06.25 (1.99m). The third-attempt clearance proved to be a 158-point swing for Robinson, as he ended up scoring 794 points in the high jump but would have scored only 636 points had he not cleared the bar.
 
Robinson then shaved half a second off his best in the 400 meters to cap the first day of the decathlon with his fourth straight personal best. Robinson finished the 400 in 49.52 seconds, giving Robinson his highest finish of any event Wednesday as he placed third in Group 3 of the decathlon 400.
 
Besides the NCAA qualifying mark, Robinson could also challenge for the school record in the decathlon when the competition resumes Thursday. PSU Hall-of-Famer Nick Trubachik set the school record in the event while scoring 7,510 points at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Trubachik finished seventh at the NCAA meet behind his school-record score, making him the program's only NCAA first-team All-American.
 
Robinson opens the second day of the decathlon with the 110-meter hurdles at 1 p.m. (PT) Thursday.
 
Sophomore Kristen O'Handley posted her own hot start in the heptathlon, as she got the day started for the Vikings with a huge heptathlon best in the 100-meter hurdles. O'Handley finished in 14.76 seconds, three-tenths of a second better than her previous best in the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles, which came in 15.06 seconds at the Boxer Combined Event last season.
 
O'Handley closed the first day of the heptathlon with her best event of the day, as she scored over 900 points while finishing the 200 meters in 24.74 seconds. It was the second time O'Handley scored over 900 points in the 200 meters, after she also bettered 900 points while finishing the 200 in 24.80 seconds at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships last season.
 
O'Handley finished the first day of the heptathlon with 2,984 points, less than 100 points off her personal-best first-day score of 3,062, which she set at last season's Big Sky outdoor meet.
 
O'Handley will open the second day of the heptathlon with the long jump at 10 a.m. (PT) Thursday.
 
Freshman Ian Vickstrom capped the action for the Vikings Wednesday with a USATF junior outdoors qualifying mark in the men's 10,000 meters. Vickstrom finished in 32:02.14, just under the time of 32:05.00 needed to qualify for the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships in June.
 
Vickstrom's time stands as the second-best 10,000-meter time by a Viking freshman since freshman records date back through the 2003 season. Jose Macias holds the best time ever by a Viking freshman with his finish in 31:57.31 in 2015, when he too qualified for the USATF junior outdoor meet.
 
The Vikings will have more athletes compete in addition to the multi-eventers Thursday at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Josh Snyder will run in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase at 3 p.m. (PT), while Phoebe Jacques and Kaila Gibson run in varying sections of the women's 5,000 meters. Alex Cisneros and Chase Lovercheck will also be in action at the Mt. SAC Relays and Pacific Coast Intercollegiate meets, respectively.
 
Bryan Clay Invitational
Cougar Athletic Stadium
Azusa, Calif.
April 17, 2019
 
Women's Results:
Heptathlon (Group 3, through four events): 9. Kristen O'Handley, 2,984 points (100H: 5. 14.76, 874 points; High Jump: T-12. 5-02.25 (1.58m), 712 points; Shot Put: 14. 30-08.25 (9.35m), 487 points; 200m: 2. 24.74, 911 points).
 
Men's Results:
10,000m (Heat 2): 14. Ian Vickstrom, 32:02.14. Decathlon (Group 3, through five events): 4. Donté Robinson, 3,856 points (100m: 7. 11.14, 830 points; Long Jump: 5. 22-10.00 (6.96m), 804 points; Shot Put: 13. 38-06.75 (11.75m), 591 points; High Jump: 5. 6-06.25 (1.99m), 794 points; 400m: 3. 49.52, 837 points).