COLLEGE STATION - Returning to the site where she won a NCAA Indoor title in the pentathlon last March, Oregon's Brianne Theisen broke her own collegiate record and also bettered the Canadian national record with her winning total of 4,555 points on the first day of the Texas A&M Challenge presented by Mondo America.
With a competitive field lined up for both distance medley relays, Texas A&M women set a school record while the men posted the second fastest time in school history.
In the Olympic Development long jump featured on Friday evening, Ashton Eaton delivered the winning jump in the sixth and final round. A leap of 26 feet, 4.5 inches (8.04) pushed Eaton past Will Claye, who had led the elite field with a first round 26-1.5 (7.96).
A score of 4,540 enabled Theisen to set the collegiate record last March at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium as the Duck women won a second consecutive NCAA Indoor team title.
"I haven't competed in 10 months since I was hurt during the last outdoor season," said Theisen. "We came to this meet to break up training and to see where I'm at. Apparently it's pretty good."
Theisen's output on Friday evening included a 8.38 (1044 points) in the 60 hurdles, a career best of 6-2 (1080 points) in the high jump, 42-2.75 (719) in the shot put, a 19-8 (846) long jump and a 2:16.90 (866) in the 800.
She bettered the Canadian record of 4,550 points set by Jill Ross-Giffen on February 20, 1982.
"I was happy with everything, but the 800, for the lack of a better word, was trash," noted Theisen. "I was really unhappy with it. I wasn't feeling it today in the 800 since my legs were just so tired. So, it's nice to know that I can do a lot better than that with a better 800.
"That was pretty cool, but clearing 6-2 was a weird feeling. On the first two attempts my coach kept telling me to keep going up and don't jump into the bar, go up and up. Then on the third one I thought 'just go up, and quit messing around.' It was a weird feeling, like I was up in the air a long time. I don't usually jump like that, but it was a good feeling."
Texas A&M had three competitors in the pentathlon, led by Jenna Hemann, who scored 3,789 points for sixth place. Annie Kunz followed in seventh place with a tally of 3,508 points and Chelsea Utley scored 3,003 points for eighth place.
Hemann's score places her fourth on the Aggie all-time list while Kunz slides in at No. 11. Hemann turned in the following marks: 9.03 in 60 hurdles, 5-9.25 in high jump, 36-2.75 in shot put, 18-7.75 in the long jump, and 2:37.18 in the 800. Kunz, meanwhile, clocked 8.77 in 60 hurdles, cleared 5-1 in the high jump, 36-5.5 in the shot put, 16-11.5 in the long jump and a 2:32.41 in the 800.
Oregon women set a meet record in winning the distance medley relay in 10:56.31 to earn an NCAA automatic time. It's also the seventh fastest performance in collegiate history and the second fastest time recorded at Oregon, whose school record is 10:52.90 from last year's NCAA final. The Ducks held the A&M Challenge meet record of 10:59.64 from 2010.
Running for Oregon was the foursome of Anne Kesselring (3:20.69), Chizoba Okodogbe (54.53), Becca Friday (2:05.34) and Jordan Hasay (4:35.75). Finishing behind the Ducks was Tennessee in an NCAA automatic time of 11:02.74 with Florida in third (11:04.53) and Arizona State (11:18.45) in fourth.
Texas A&M, with the crew of Hillary Hagan (3:37.77), Kamaria Brown (53.99), Aliese Hyde (2:14.33) and Natosha Rogers (4:43.80), established a school record for the Aggies with a time of 11:29.89. They bettered the mark of 11:38.78 set last year.
Oregon also claimed the men's distance medley relay with a time of 9:36.88, the collegiate leading time for 2012. The Ducks ran with a group that included Boru Guyota (2:57.69), Bryan Harper (48.09), Russell Hornsby (1:50.25) and Trevor Dunbar (4:00.86).
Florida (9:38.95) and Texas A&M (9:39.02) had a tight finish, as they turned in the second and third fastest times this indoor season. The Aggies time was just shy of its school record, a 9:33.12 set on an oversized track in 2004.
A&M's foursome included Colin Slattery (3:01.10), Deon Lendore">Deon Lendore (46.37), Oscar Ramirez (1:50.40) and Henry Lelei (4:01.15). Florida's anchor, Matt Mizereck (4:05.74) passed Lelei in the final couple of strides of the race. The Gators first three legs included Tyler Cardillo (2:58.83), Hugh Graham, Jr. (46.97) and Sean Obinwa (1:47.42).
Florida's Gray Horn leads the men's heptathlon after the first four events with a score of 3,376 points. Three events remain on Saturday. Texas A&M's entries, Corey McPherson (2,640) and Daniel Martin (2,136) are currently in seventh and 10th place.
Eaton, a silver medalist in the decathlon for the United States at the IAAF World Championships last summer, matched his outdoor career best with the winning effort. His impressive series included three attempts that bettered his previous indoor best of 25-6 (7.77).
"It was actually good for me mentally," noted Eaton of bettering the long jump field he faced in his first competition of 2012. "It's always good to be so close to your PR in your first competition, especially in an Olympic year.
"I looked at the entries right before I got here and thought, oh crap, these guys are good. There was Claye, Reid and Lapierre. I knew they all had the potential to go 26 high. Claye fouled some really big jumps and I was in second until the very last jump. I just kept competing until the end."
Opening with a 24-5.5, Eaton improved to 25-8 ¾ (7.84) in round two and went further, 25-11 (7.90), in the third stanza. A 25-10 (7.87) in round five preceded his winning leap in the final round.
"The series was excellent, nearly all the jumps were in the high 25's," added Eaton. "It's awesome to win here tonight and face that caliber of competition. This is good preparation for the fields I'll face at World Indoors in a couple of months and Prefontaine later this season."
Claye had three fouls after his opening mark, which led for five rounds. His next best effort was 26-0 (7.92) in round four. A misstep on his approach in round six, after Eaton had taken the lead, resulted in a 20-6.5 (6.26) mark.
Texas A&M All-American's Fabrice Lapierre, the 2010 World Indoor champion, and Julian Reid placed third and fourth, respectively, with jumps of 25-6 (7.77) and 24-8.25 (7.52).