Jan. 30, 2009
College Station - Aggie sophomore Sarah Pierson produced her best ever score in the pentathlon during Friday's portion of the Texas A&M Showdown between the Big 12 and SEC while placing second in the event with a tally of 3,464 points.
The three SEC schools opted not to contest the five-event pentathlon and as a result find themselves already down 36-0 as the Big 12 had six entrants in the event.
In the men's heptathlon a close finish is expected after the first day ended with Texas A&M junior Trinity Otto holding an 18-point edge over Nick Addcock of Missouri and a 58-point margin ahead of Missouri's Lars Rise.
Otto scored 3,140 points through four events while Addcock is at 3,122 and Rise tallied 3.082. The SEC has one entrant in the event with Florida's Gray Horn in fourth place with 3,050 points.
Pierson, who improved upon her previous best of 3,354 points from the Big 12 Championships last year, is the No. 8 performer on the Aggie all-time indoor list.
Another Aggie entrant in the pentathlon was Daphne Fitzpatrick, who had trouble in the hurdles to start the event and ended up with zero points. She totaled 2,494 points in the remaining four disciplines to place fifth overall.
"I wanted to go out and have fun so that I would stay relaxed the whole time," Pierson said. "Daphne had a rockier start that I did, but I think we both kept a pretty good attitude the whole time. That's what makes it enjoyable.
"It was very good to get this first heptathlon in, we've been excited about this one during all of our fall training. Plus to have the home advantage was fun as well."
Missouri senior Kaela Rorvig won the pentathlon with a score of 3,757 to reach a NCAA provisional mark. Following Pierson was another Missouri Tiger with Lauren Begany reaching a total of 3,344 points.
Pierson led the competition through the high jump and shot put, where she scored 771 and 610 points. That followed a strong start with 891 points from a 9.07 clocking in the 60-meter hurdles.
Rorvig reclaimed the lead in the long jump, where her output of 774 points topped the 573 picked up by Pierson. A 2:25.73 in the 800, which accumulated 747 points, sealed the victory for Rorvig. Pierson finished with 617 points off a 2:36.21 clocking.
"With this group it was pretty good competition in terms of who I can hang with during the Big 12 Championships next month," noted Pierson. "The one's we have to watch for are the Nebraska girls, who will try to come in here and dominate this event."
Otto sped to a 7.08 winning time in the 60 meters for 851 points, then added 840 in the long jump (23-4), 682 in the shot put (43-5 ¼) and 767 in the high jump (6-5). Otto has a career best score of 5,245 point in the heptathlon from the 2008 Big 12 Championships.
The heptathlon continues at 11 a.m. in Gilliam Indoor Stadium. Prelims for the 60 meters will be at 2:30 p.m. Then the heart of the Big 12 vs. SEC Showdown starts at 4 p.m. and runs to 7:30 p.m.