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Hahn is 16th After First Day of NCAA Heptathlon 6/9/2004 AUSTIN, Texas – Vanderbilt junior Josie Hahn will need to make up ground in the final three events of the NCAA heptathlon Thursday if she is to earn All-American honors for a second consecutive year. Hahn is 16th overall after the first day of competition with a 3,117-point total. The heptathletes started competing in the early afternoon Wednesday, were forced to sit through a seven-hour storm delay, then finished after midnight. A string of heavy storms, which resulted in flooding around Austin, caused havoc on the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Wednesday. Besides the delay affecting Hahn, the storm apparently will put fellow Commodore participant Erika Schneble in the 5,000-meter finals. Meet officials, in announcing a revised schedule of events early Thursday, eliminated the two 5,000-meter trials. The 5,000 final, featuring up to 26 runners, will be staged Saturday night. Schneble, the reigning SEC champion, has the sixth fastest qualifying mark in the race. Hahn, who opened the heptathlon with a 14.78 effort in the 100-meter hurdles, posted sub-par performances in the high jump and shot put after the competition resumed at 9:45 p.m. Hahn’s best high jump, 5’7.25″, was nearly five inches off her effort last month at the SEC heptathlon. Her shot put of 36’10.25″ was nearly three feet shy of her personal best. The poor weather obviously played a role in Hahn’s performance, as well as other heptathletes. The event’s top athlete, Hyleas Fountain of Georgia, also struggled in the conditions and stands third overall with 3,380 points. She is 53 points behind the pace of first-day leader Jacquelyn Johnson of Arizona State. Two of Hahn’s best events in the heptathlon, the javelin and 800-meter run, are scheduled today. Hahn enters the final day of competition needing to make up 200 points if she is to duplicate her fourth place NCAA finish from a year ago. Hahn also is entered in the individual high jump trials. That competition was rescheduled to Friday night. |
