MUCH LIKE THE Indoor pentathlon, the three highest on the seasonal list were easily the favorites.
While the March competition ended with Notre Dame’s Jadin O’Brien romping to a third-straight title, this one turned out much closer.
O’Brien entered as No. 3 on the yearly list at 6231 (just off the 6234 in finishing as runner-up last year). Topping the list at 6260 was Texas A&M frosh Sofia Yakushina in defeating O’Brien head-to-head and ’23 champion Pippi Lotta Enok of Oklahoma at 6258.
The only disappointment was that it became just a 2-way battle, although that provided the fourth-closest finish in meet history — and the closest among multiple 6000-pointers. Here’s how it unfolded:
100 Hurdles: O’Brien jumped to the front as she led the field at 13.33 — her second-fastest wind-legal time — but Enok had more of an impact with a PR 13.64. Yakushina (13.53) was slightly off the 13.51 she ran in her PR score.
High Jump: Enok went into the overall lead with her 5-11¼ (1.81) tying an absolute PR as her projection zoomed up to 6358. O’Brien was 102 points behind yet still on PR-score pace after a 5-6½ (1.69). Meanwhile, Yakushina, who cleared 6-½ (1.84) indoors, also settled for 5-6½, making it look like just a 2-way fight for the title.
Shot: As expected, O’Brien was the farthest, hitting 47-4½ (14.44) to regain the overall lead with Enok 27 points back after putting 41-¼ (12.50). Both continued on PR-total pace.
200: This was held in the evening with temperatures cooling down, and Enok (24.09) and O’Brien (24.11) had nearly identical times in separate races. That was an improvement for Enok on her PR score (in which she ran 24.33). For O’Brien it was an improvement on her PR score of 6234 (in which she ran 24.16) but down on her seasonal best score of 6231 (23.95). While O’Brien had the Day 1 lead by 25 points, Enok was 89 ahead on projections, 6354–6265.
Long Jump: Fluctuating winds proved tricky for most, including O’Brien. Her final-attempt 20-2½w (6.15) was her only jump over 6m. Enok, while also down, had two over 6.30m with a best of 20-11¾ (6.39) and regained the lead by 51 points.
Javelin: O’Brien threw in the first section and launched her third-farthest ever at 140-3 (42.75), while Enok — whose PR is 169-11 (51.80) — followed only slightly farther at 140-8 (42.89), increasing her lead to 54 as both remained on PR pace.
800: Enok’s lead converted to about a 4-second difference in heptathlon 800 times, and O’Brien’s PR 2:11.61 wasn’t nearly that much faster than the Estonian’s 2:13.19. Both followed an aggressive pace of 62.24 for the first lap, and while O’Brien won in 2:12.42 it wasn’t enough for the overall title as Enok ran 2:14.12. Both completed PR scores — 6285 and 6256 — to move to Nos. 9 and 12 on the all-time collegiate list. Enok’s tally was also an Estonian Record by 5 points.
Enok summed up her meet thusly: “I started off good with a [hurdle] PR; high jump was perfect for me’ shot was decent/average; 200 was fine; long jump was OK; javelin didn’t go as well as I wanted it to go so that put me in the position to fight for 1st place. It got me my national record that I wanted so bad.”
WOMEN’S HEPTATHLON RESULTS
(June 13–14)
1. *Pippi Lotta Enok’ (Ok-Est) 6285 NR (9, x C)
(13.65, 5-11¼/1.81, 41-¼/12.50, 24.09 [3685], 20-11¾/6.39, 140-8/42.89, 2:14.12 [2600]);
2. Jadin O’Brien (NDm) 6256 PR (6, x AmC)
(13.33, 5-6½/1.69, 47-4½/14.44, 24.11 [3710], 20-2¼/6.15w, 140-3/42.75, 2:12.42 [2546]);
3. ***Sofia Yakushina’ (TxAM-Rus) 6058
(13.53, 5-6½/1.69, 37-7¼/11.46, 24.02 [3492], 21-2¾/6.47, 132-6/40.38, 2:14.93 [2566]);
4. ***Melissa Wullschleger’ (Il-Swi) 5928 PR
(13.75, 5-5¼/1.66, 44-8/13.61, 24.70 [3503], 19-6¾/5.96, 145-0/44.20, 2:18.82 [2425]);
5. Alaina Brady (NDm) 5875 PR
(13.41, 5-5¼/1.66, 45-7/13.89, 25.33 [3513], 19-2½/5.85, 137-10/42.02, 2:17.95 [2362]);
6. ***Sofia Cosculluela’ (Wa-Spa) 5856
(13.48, 5-3/1.60, 41-7¾/12.69, 24.83 [3398], 19-6¾/5.96, 160-8/48.97, 2:23.14 [2458]);
7. Izzy Goudros’ (Harv-Can) 5853 PR
(13.61, 5-3/1.60, 37-2¼/11.33, 23.61 [3405], 20-11¾/6.39, 114-10/35.00, 2:14.19 [2448]);
8. ***Katelyn Adel’ (Al-Swi) 5834
(14.12, 5-7¾/1.72, 41-4¼/12.60, 24.65 [3460], 20-3½/6.18, 119-11/36.57, 2:16.85 [2374]);
9. *Maddie Pitts (PennSt) 5778 PR; 10. Destiny Masters (Wich) 5763 PR; 11. **Juliette Laracuente-Huebner (Cinc) 5703 PR; 12. *Annie Molenhouse (OkSt) 5669; 13. ***Mia Lien’ (UTSA-Nor) 5648; 14. Sydney Johnson (UCLA) 5635; 15. ***Maresa Hense’ (Ct-Ger) 5608; 16. Jalen Elrod (Pur) 5594 PR; 17. **Lucy Fellows’ (Louis-GB) 5557; 18. **Shelby Grover (Kent) 5501; 19. **Ella Spaulding (Fres) 5371; 20. Clare Mcnamara (Mi) 4980; 21. Claudine Raud-Gumiel’ (LBSt-Fra) 4577;… dnf—Annika Williams (Or), ***Lucie Kienast’ (Il-Ger) 3407, Kenli Nettles (Ball) 3294.
Heptathlon Top 5 Leaders By Event
100H: 1. O’Brien 1075; 2. Brady 1063; 3. Cosculluela 1053; 4. Iakushina 1046; 5. Goudros 1034; 6. Enok 1028;… 11. Wullschleger 1014
HJ: 1. Enok 2019; 2. Masters 1975; 3. Laracuente-Huebner 1944; 4. Lien 1920; 5. O’Brien 1917;… 8. Iakushina 1888; =9. Brady 1869;… 12. Wullschleger
SP: 1. O’Brien 2740; 2. Masters 2734; 3. Enok 2713; 4. Williams 2702; 5. Brady 2656; 6. Wullschleger;… 9. Iakushina 2513
200: 1. O’Brien 3710; 2. Enok 3685; 3. Masters 3572; 4. Pitts 3557; 5. Williams 3545; 6. Brady 3513; 7. Wullschleger 3503; 8. Iakushina 3492
LJ: 1. Enok 4657; 2. O’Brien 4606; 3. Iakushina 4489; 4. Goudros 4377; 5. Adel 4365;… 8. Wullschleger 4340;… 10. Brady 4317
JT: 1. Enok 5380; 2. O’Brien 5326; 3. Iakushina 5164; 4. Masters 5111; 5. Wullschleger 5088;… 7. Brady 5023
