RESULTS - HEPTATHLON | DECATHLON

MISSOULA, Mont. — Sophomore Kristen O'Handley announced herself as a podium or title contender in the heptathlon next season, as she set a personal best while placing fifth on the second day of the Big Sky Outdoor Championships at Dornblaser Field.
 
O'Handley placed fifth behind a personal-best 5,029 points Thursday, 158 points better than the personal best she set three weeks ago at the Bryan Clay Invitational. O'Handley had set a near 300-point personal best at the Bryan Clay Invite, meaning she's improved her score in the heptathlon by 451 points in the past month.
 
O'Handley's score moved her up to fourth all time in the heptathlon at Portland State, passing Ashley Quay whose best score was 5,018 points in 2007. Only four athletes before O'Handley had ever cracked 5,000 points in the heptathlon, with O'Handley joining them as the fifth Thursday.
 
Montana's Erika McLeod won the heptathlon with 5,425 points, giving her the fifth multi-event title of her career. O'Handley finished only 48 points out of third place, which went to Idaho State's Brianna VanVleet with 5,077 points.
 
O'Handley started the day with a personal best in the long jump, finishing with a mark of 17-08 (5.38m) to beat her old heptathlon best by close to seven inches.
 
O'Handley followed with near personal bests in the javelin and 800 meters, finishing with marks of 90-08 (27.65m) and 2:22.51, respectively. O'Handley's mark in the javelin was than four feet off her heptathlon best in the event, while her time in the 800 was two seconds off her best in the event despite the elevation in Missoula. O'Handley ran the best heptathlon 800 meters in the past 15 years by a Viking with a time of 2:20.49 at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
 
Redshirt senior Donté Robinson was on pace to defend his decathlon title until no-heighting in the pole vault. Robinson led Montana's Brendan Thurber-Blaser, the eventual winner, by 137 points after the discus, and led second-place finisher Wyatt Thompson-Siporen of Montana State by 333 points. The no-height dropped Robinson to sixth, however, and he scratched out of the javelin and 1,500 meters after that.
 
Robinson was attempting to become the first Big Sky athlete to sweep the heptathlon and decathlon titles in back-to-back years. Robinson became only the second athlete to repeat as heptathlon champion earlier in the season, and leaves Portland State as a three-time conference champion in the multi-events.
 
Robinson began the day just off his bests in the 110-meter hurdles and discus. Robinson finished the 110 hurdles in 15.06 seconds – four-hundredths of a second off the time he ran at the Bryan Clay Invitational – then posted a best throw of 119-02 (36.32m) in the discus to finish less than six feet off the personal best he set at the Bryan Clay Invite.
 
The rest of the events begin tomorrow on Day 3 of the Big Sky Outdoor Championships. Robinson is scheduled to open the day for the Vikings, as he competes in the men's high jump at 11 a.m. (MT). Track events get underway for the Vikings at 12:30 p.m. (MT), with freshman Linnaea Kavulich in the prelims of the women's 1,500 meters.
 
Big Sky Outdoor Championships
Dornblaser Field
Missoula, Mont.
May 8-9, 2019
 
Women's Results:
Heptathlon:5. Kristen O'Handley, 5,029 points (100H: 4. 14.82, 866 points; High Jump: T-4. 5-05.00 (1.65m), 795 points; Shot Put: 11. 32-05.50 (9.89m), 522 points; 200m: 1. 24.23, 959 points; Long Jump: 9. 17-08.00 (5.38m), 665 points; Javelin: 11. 90-08 (27.65m), 432 points; 800m: 4. 2:22.51, 790 points).
 
Men's Results:
Decathlon: DNF. Donté Robinson, 5,266 points through seven events (100m: 2. 11.14, 830 points; Long Jump: 2. 23-02.50 (7.07m), 830 points; Shot Put: 2. 38-09.75 (11.83m), 596 points; High Jump: 1. 6-07.00 (2.01m), 813 points; 400m: 4. 51.08, 765 points; 110H: 1. 15.06, 842 points; Discus: 3. 119-02 (36.32m), 590 points; Pole Vault: NH, 0 points; Javelin: Foul, 0 points; 1,500m: DNS, 0 points).