SO MUCH HAS CHANGED for Anna Hall in just one year.
The 22-year-old’s 6677 points for a second-straight U.S. title would have been a huge PR a year ago, but now it was simply a cruise-control effort after her world-leading 6988 in Götzis 6 weeks ago.
Her mindset here was, “Let’s qualify [for the World Championships in Budapest], be conservative, safe, get through, and then get back to work. So not my normal fiery heptathlon but it was a lot of fun and I’m glad I got my ticket to Worlds.”
Even with her foot off the throttle, Hall managed a PR in the shot amid 7 solid efforts in winning by 358.
The rest of the U.S. team is TBD. No one else has the auto standard of 6480, although runner-up Taliyah Brooks flirted with it for a while before finishing with 6319, 11 points off her PR.
100 Hurdles: Brooks (12.98) and Hall (13.08) led the way, with Chari Hawkins following with a PR 13.10. Also PRing was Notre Dame’s Jadin O’Brien (13.72). Former champs Annie Kunz (13.32) and Erica Bougard (13.67) were notably off their bests.
High Jump: Hall was highest at 6-1½ (1.87) and moved to a 22-point lead over Brooks, who equaled her PR at 6-½ (1.84). Bougard also cleared 6-½, matching her yearly best but far off her lifetime best of 6-3½ (1.92).
Shot: Hall’s lead ballooned to 98 with her PR 46-½ (14.03). Kunz was farthest at 48-3½ (14.72), but well short of her best of 51-10 (15.80) and had her 4th overall behind Brooks and Hawkins.
200 Meters: A 23.45 closed out Hall’s Day 1 total at 4009 as her lead grew to triple digits (119). Brooks (23.67) was next and now projected in WC auto-Q territory at 6486. Kunz was next on projections at 6437 but losing points in that regard with each event. Bougard did not start and Atherley did not finish.
Long Jump: An overcast start to Day 2 came with tricky swirling winds that ranged from +3.0 to –1.2 mps, although that seemed to bother the leaders very little. Brooks was solid at 21-4¾ (6.52) but close behind was consistent Hall, who had two 20-10 (6.35) leaps before a final 21-0 (6.40). Hall’s lead was back down to double digits at 79.
Javelin: Kunz came back to nice form with a PR 153-0 (46.64) and Hall followed with a solid 144-0 (43.90), a throw that would have given her a 7000 score if she could have thrown as far at Götzis. Hall now led by 228, but it was now over Kunz as Brooks — who threw a modest 112-10 (34.39) while her PR is 127-11 (39.00) — dropped to 3rd behind Kunz by 33 points.
800 Meters: It was coronation time for Hall, who took over early and finished far ahead and alone at 2:10.91. Brooks (2:17.71) regained a solid 2nd overall at 6319 as Kunz (6049) dropped to 4th behind Hawkins (6053).
WOMEN’S HEPTATHLON RESULTS
(July 06–07)
1. Anna Hall (adidas) 6677 (non-JJK: x, 9 A)
(13.08, 6-1½/1.87, 46-½/14.03, 23.45 [4009], 21-0/6.40, 144-0/43.90, 2:10.91 [2668]);
2. Taliyah Brooks (Asics) 6319
(12.98, 6-½/1.84, 42-4/12.90, 23.67 [3890], 21-4¾/6.52, 112-10/34.39, 2:17.71 [2429]);
3. Chari Hawkins (unat) 6053
(13.10, 5-11¼/1.81, 44-0/13.41, 24.05 [3831], 19-7/5.97, 139-1/42.41, 2:32.01 [2222]);
4. Annie Kunz (CVE) 6049
(13.32, 5-8¾/1.75, 48-3½/14.72, 24.42 [3776], 19-2¾/5.86, 153-0/46.64, 2:31.78 [2273]);
5. Erin Marsh (unat) 5963 PR
(13.19, 5-6½/1.69, 42-1½/12.84, 23.98 [3638], 20-2¼/6.15, 112-2/34.20, 2:16.39 [2325]);
6. Jadin O’Brien (NDm) 5960 PR
(13.72, 5-6½/1.69, 46-¾/14.04, 24.80 [3562], 19-9¾/6.04, 132-1/40.52, 2:17.41 [2398]);
7. Jordan Gray (MSI) 5829
(14.15, 5-7¾/1.72, 44-8¾/13.63, 24.95 [3496], 19-9¾/6.04, 122-8/37.39, 2:17.78 [2333]);
8. Hope Bender (unat) 5726
(13.69, 5-6½/1.69, 39-1¼/11.92, 24.39 [3465], 19-5¼/5.92, 110-6/33.69, 2:15.28 [2261]);
9. Shaina Burns (unat) 5720; 10. Lexie Keller (CoSt) 5716; 11. Avery McMullen (Co) 5396; 12. Melanie Winters (unat) 4622; 13. Cheyenne Williamson (SagV) 4190; 14. Michelle Atherley (unat) 3233;… dnf—Erica Bougard (Nik), Allie Jones (USC).