June 8, 2005

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - In a scene reminiscent of last year's NCAA Track & Field Championships in Austin, the 2005 version of the nation's top collegiate meet started with some adverse weather conditions in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday. As of press time the men's decathlon the fourth of five events of day one with just completed with junior Hans Uldal in eighth place and sophomore Bjorn Sommerfeldt in 13th.

The weather, while not as imposing of the thunderstorms in Austin, did cause some problems in the men's decathlon. A stiff head wind and moderate rain kept a majority of the scores down for the first day of competition.

After the first three events of the day, the 100-meter dash, long jump, and shot put, Uldal stood in seventh and Sommerfeldt was in eighth in the overall standings.

During the high jump, the rain intensified and competition was halted for 15 minutes. Uldal had to attempt his second height of 5-11½ (1.82m) soon after with a soaked jumping apron and barely cleared on his third attempt, avoiding a lower score in the event. Uldal would go on to clear 6-2 (1.88m), a quarter-inch below his personal best.

In the first of three rounds of the women's 800-meter, junior Ashley Patten (Clarkston, Mich.) drew a heat that was the fastest of the day, as she qualified for tomorrow's semifinal with a fourth-place heat time of 2:05.72.

In the women's discus, sophomore Melanie Uher (Geneva, Neb.), who was a pleasant surprise to make the NCAA Championships placed 14th in today's preliminaries, coming within three feet of making Friday's final with her best toss of 162-4 (49.47m). Uher was not expected to finish in the top 12 necessary to make the final as she came into the meet ranked 26th. However, with her an average performance, Uher was able to creep up the rankings as most other competitors faltered, troubled by a ring that was slick. Uher qualified for the NCAA Championships with a school-record toss, placing eighth in the NCAA Mideast Regional two weeks ago.

Today's men's shot put qualifying started after press time. A complete report on senior Conrad Woolsey (Excelsior Springs, Mo.) will appear in tomorrow's report from the NCAA Championships.

Tomorrow's program for the Tigers includes the conclusion of the men's decathlon, the semifinal of the women's 800, Jennifer Bennett in the qualifying round in the women's pole vault, the first round of the men's and women's 1500 for Tipper O'Brien and Amanda Bales, and Valerie Lauver in the women's 10000-meter. Lauver will run at Midnight, central, a report on her race will appear in Friday's wrap-up.

For complete results and live event-by-event results, visit ncaasports.com.