IT WAS A TALE of two days for Washington’s Sofia Cosculluela in the heptathlon. Day 1 wasn’t her best as she sat in 5th, 63 points down on the pace of her 6093 score that led the entrants.
“I was excited to get onto Day 2,” she revealed afterwards. “I knew it was going to be great.”
She carried that enthusiasm to a come-from-behind victory in a PR score of 6182. Here’s how it unfolded:
100 Hurdles: Arizona’s Hollan Powers led the way at 13.23, the beginning of a near-sweep of her event PRs. Cosculluela and Cincinnati’s Juliette Laracuente-Huebner — the Big 12 champ just 7 points behind the Husky at 6086 this year — each ran 13.46. Big 10 champ JaiCieonna Gero-Holt of Illinois had her first wind-legal sub-14 at 13.80.
High Jump: As expected, Gero-Holt led here but her 5-11¼ (1.81) was lower than the 6-0 (1.83) in her PR score and 6-2 (1.88) she cleared twice indoors. Powers raised her outdoor best three times — finally to 5-8¾ (1.75). She thus continued as the overall leader at 2006, 8 points up on Gero-Holt. Laracuente-Huebner at 5-8¾ (1.75) didn’t PR, but Cosculluela with 5-6½ (1.69) did as both improved on their PR score.
Shot: Gero-Holt was farthest by more than 3ft with a heave of 49-1¾ (14.98), a PR by over 2ft to take a 157-point overall lead. Powers, who tied her best at 41-½ (12.51), remained closest at 2701 followed by Laracuente-Huebner (2656) and Cosculluela (2602). Both these last two were notably lower than their PR-score efforts at 40-6 (12.34) and 41-5¾ (12.64), respectively.
200: Another Illini, Meagan Humphries, was fastest with a PR 23.27 as Powers (23.77) and Gero-Holt (25.00) also PRed. Cosculluela (24.09) was faster than Laracuente-Huebner (24.22), but the latter was much closer to her PR. Day 1 standings: Gero-Holt 3745, Powers 3704, Humphries 3629, Laracuente-Huebner 3616, Cosculluela 3574.
Long Jump: A breezy day helped four of the leaders to PRs — Cosculluela 21-4¾ (6.52), Laracuente-Huebner 21-¾ (6.42), Powers 19-7½ (5.98) and Gero-Holt 19-5½ (5.93). Laracuente-Huebner took the overall lead at 4597 with Cosculluela (4588) and Gero-Holt (4573) within 24 points.
Javelin: Cosculluela took the overall lead after a throw of 144-7 (44.06), an 84-point improvement on the 130-1 (39.66) in her PR score, while Gero-Holt at 124-11 (38.09) and Laracuente-Huebner with 116-6 (35.50) were notably down on theirs as the Spaniard now held a commanding 129-point lead over Gero-Holt. Laracuente-Huebner was another 26 points back. Powers threw 104-0 (31.71) — her only non-PR of the meet — but improved to +209 on her PR score pace.
800: With a solid run, Cosculluela (PR 2:16.15) seemed nearly assured of winning as Gero-Holt had a slower PR and Laracuente-Huebner’s was just under 3 seconds faster. That meant the Husky would need to stay within about 11 seconds of Laracuente-Huebner, and that’s what happened. Cosculluela ran 2:18.11, just over 4 seconds back of Laracuente-Huebner’s 2:14.05. The overall effort raised her PR by 89 points to 6182 for Washington’s first win in the event. Laracuente-Huebner (6084) missed her best by 2 points as the next three registered PRs over 6000 for the first time.
What went best for Cosculluela? “Definitely the jumps were great,” she said. “I PRed in both of them. Other events were consistent. I’m definitely happy with the javelin, to be honest with you, and the 800, too.”
WOMEN’S HEPTATHLON RESULTS
(June 12-13)
1. **Sofia Cosculluela’ (Wa-Spa) 6182 PR
(13.46, 5-6½/1.69, 41-5¾/12.64, 24.09 [3574], 21-4¾/6.52, 144-7/44.06, 2:18.11 [2608]);
2. *Juliette Laracuente-Huebner (Cinc) 6084
(13.46, 5-8¾/1.75, 40-6/12.34, 24.22 [3616], 21-¾/6.42, 116-6/35.50, 2:14.05 [2468]);
3. ***JaiCieonna Gero-Holt (Il) 6010 PR
(13.80, 5-11¼/1.81, 49-1¾/14.98, 25.00 [3745], 19-5½/5.93w, 124-11/38.09, 2:21.32 [2265]);
4. Hollan Powers (Az) 6008 PR
(13.23, 5-8¾/1.75, 41-½/12.51, 23.77 [3704], 19-7½/5.98, 104-0/31.71, 2:10.87 [2304]);
5. **Meagan Humphries (Il) 6008 PR
(13.74, 5-8¾/1.75, 38-7½/11.77, 23.27 [3629], 20-5¾/6.24, 105-8/32.20, 2:11.91 [2379]);
6. Annie Molenhouse (OkSt) 5971
(13.83, 5-6½/1.69, 41-¼/12.50, 23.79 [3540], 19-1½/5.83w, 135-4/41.27, 2:11.62 [2431]);
7. **Tabea Eitel’ (Tx-Ger) 5948 PR
(14.04, 5-8¾/1.75, 41-5¼/12.63, 25.27 [3454], 20-11¼/6.38, 137-6/41.92, 2:20.20 [2494]);
8. *Joey Perry (NnIa) 5913 PR
(14.23, 5-8¾/1.75, 40-1½/12.23, 23.74 [3544], 19-4¾/5.91, 122-1/37.21, 2:12.21 [2369]);
9. *Pauline Bikembo’ (Fl-Fra) 5903; 10. **Maresa Hense’ (UConn-Ger) 5872 PR; 11. *Marta Sīviņa’ (Vand-Lat) 5778; 12. *Katy Stephens (NnIa) 5776 PR; 13. Zoey Bonds (BYU) 5775 PR; 14. Ella Rush’ (Ga-GB) 5709; 15. Jenna Fee Feyerabend’ (SDi-Ger) 5709; 16. Kenli Nettles (Ball) 5703 PR; 17. Angel Richmore’ (Ok-Swe) 5700); 18. *Julia Gunnell (Ky) 5646 PR; 19. ***Joy Anderson (UCI) 5554; 20. **Logan Todorovich (Bay) 5533; 21. Alice Taylor’ (Rice-NZ) 5490; 22. Jolie Robinson (UCI) 5313; 23. Abigail Weening (GM) 4467;… dnf—***Liisa-Maria Lusti’ (Or-Est).
Heptathlon Top 5 Leaders By Event
100H: 1. Powers 1090; 2. Cosculluela 1056; 3. Laracuente-Huebner 1056; 4. Sīviņa 1043; 5. Bonds 1036;… 10. Gero-Holt 1007
HJ: 1. Powers 2006; 2. Gero-Holt 1998; 3. Laracuente-Huebner 1972; 4. Bonds 1952; 5. Anderson 1944;… 8. Cosculluela 1898
SP: 1. Gero-Holt 2858; 2. Powers 2701; 3. Laracuente-Huebner 2656; 4. Cosculluela 2602; 5. Eitel 2592
200: 1. Gero-Holt 3745; 2. Powers 3704; 3. Humphries 3629; 4. Laracuente-Huebner 3616; 5. Cosculluela 3574
LJ: 1. Laracuente-Huebner 4597; 2. Cosculluela 4588; 3. Gero-Holt 4573; 4. Humphries 4553; 5. Powers 4547
JT: 1. Cosculluela 5333; 2. Gero-Holt 5204; 3. Laracuente-Huebner 5178; 4. Eitel 5127; 5. Humphries 5071
