April 30, 2004
NORMAN, Okla. - Sophomore Jessica Stockard (Godfrey, Ill.) was crowned as Big 12 Heptathlon Champion today, winning with a personal-best score of 5,378 points. The score places Stockard sixth on the national performers list from scores entering the weekend. Stockard's previous-best score of 5,175 points came at last year's Big 12 Championships where she finished sixth. Claiming now her seventh all-Big 12 honor, Stockard gave Missouri their second consecutive Big 12 heptathlon title. Last year, the Tigers' Fiona Asigbee was crowned as champion.
"I'm very excited and I can't believe that I won," Stockard said. "I'm very thankful that things fell my way."
Stockard has now won her second Big 12 title as she was part of the Tigers' Distance Medley Relay team that took the indoor conference crown in February. At that meet, Stockard finished sixth in the indoor pentathlon.
Stockard battled for second and third throughout the first five events. A turning point came in the sixth event, the javelin throw. The leader at the time, Kansas State's JaNelle Wright, fouled all three attempts, eliminating her from top contention an opening the door for the Tiger. Stockard earned a personal-best in the discipline, throwing for 107 feet, 4 inches (32.72m). Wright entered the weekend with the second-best national performance by a collegian for the year.
"It was a heartbreaker for me to see JaNelle foul out," Stockard added. Everyone out here respects her and what she does, and we consider her the best one out here."
The crown was then to be decided by the final event, the 800-meter run. Stockard approached the line with only a 66 point lead, knowing that she could not trail Baylor's Jordan Willman by more than four seconds to take the crown. In second place stood Baylor's Jordan Willman who's personal-best in the 800 was near 2:12; Stockard's best was 2:18.89.
"I really didn't know I was in first until Coach McGuire told me. Then I knew I had to stay close in the 800, but I had so much adrenaline that I just went for it."
Stockard finished with a three-second personal-best time of 2:15.46, trailing Willman by less than a second with her time of 2:14.52.
"I had won a Big 12 Championship in the indoor distance medley relay, but this was my first in the hep. It feels great. I don't think it has fully soaked in yet."
Stockard is now one of four from the Big 12 in the top ten on the national performance list. Her score improves her NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
For more coverage of this event, plus a complete wrap-up of today's action check-out mutigers.com later this evening.