Missouri
NCAA Championships
Uldal Third In NCAA Men's Decathlon
6/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
June 9, 2005
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - University of Missouri junior Hans Uldal earned his third All-America honor at the NCAA Track & Field Championships on Thursday in sunny Sacramento, Calif. In front of a crowd of 4,517, Uldal completed the two-day men's decathlon in third place, scoring 7,687 points. In addition, senior Jennifer Bennett came back from a year-long back injury to qualify for Saturday's finals in the women's pole vault. And, junior Ashley Patten earned her third career All-America honor in the women's 800-meter.
Uldal, who usually earns stronger marks on the second day, entered Thursday in eighth-place overall - teammate, sophomore, Bjorn Sommerfeldt stood 15th. The first of event of the day, the 110-meter hurdles was a good event for Uldal, as he rose a spot to seventh with a clocking of 14.98 in the event. Sommerfeldt struggled, running 16.04, but held his spot at 15th.
In the discus, Uldal earned a personal-best mark with a throw of 159-4 (48.58m), improving one spot to sixth in the overall standings. Sommerfeldt obtained a solid mark of 128-2 (39.06m) to move to 13th.
The Tiger decathletes shined in the pole vault, as both Uldal and Sommerfeldt earned personal bests and once again inched through the rankings. Uldal cleared the bar at 15-9 (4.80m) to jump to fourth overall, and Sommerfeldt went above 15-1 (4.60m) to hit the 11th spot overall.
Sommerfeldt held his ground at 11th after an average javelin toss. Uldal, who threw 192-5 (58.65m), placing second in the event, went to third overall in the standings with one event to go. In the 1500-meter run, Uldal ran a 4:38.23 to hold his third place spot; Sommerfeldt slipped to 13th, but had a good meet, seeded as the 14th-best competitor in his first NCAA Championships.
The meets scores were relatively low due to adverse rain and wind conditions yesterday. Uldal, who placed fifth in the 2004 decathlon, actually scored higher in Sacramento than in Austin last year. The Big 12 Conference occupied three of the top four spots in the event as Texas' Trey Hardee won the meet with 7,881 points and Texas' Donovan Kilmartin placed fourth with 7,662. Uldal took the Big 12 Championship in the event in mid-May.
Uldal earned the second All-America honor of his career in the decathlon and his third overall (2005 NCAA indoor heptathlon). The Tiger decathletes season is not over, however. Uldal and Sommerfeldt, in the following weeks, are slated to compete in the European Cup for their home country of Norway and will later compete in the Norwegian National Championships. Uldal's next goal will ultimately be to reach the 8,050-point plateau. In doing so, Uldal would earn a `B' (provisional) standard for the IAAF World Championships to be held in Helsinki, Finland in September and would be eligible to be selected for his national team.
Senior Jennifer Bennett (Ashland, Mo/Southern Boone HS), qualified for Saturday's finals in the women's pole vault with a leap of 13-1½ (4.00m), a season best. Bennett, who came back for this outdoor season after dealing with a year-long back injury holds both indoor and outdoor school records for the Tigers and earned All-America honors in 2003.
Ashley Patten (Clarkston, Mich.) missed qualifying for Saturday's finals in the women's 800-meter run with a time of 2:05.74. Patten who was the first to miss the final, will place ninth in the event overall, good enough for an All-America honor (by virtue of foreign athletes in the final). Patten earned her first outdoor All-America honor with her effort and her third overall.
Senior Amanda Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa) came so close to a personal-best in the women's 1500-meter run and so close to qualifying for the final. Bales ran a 4:18.94 in her heat to place sixth and consequently 13th overall, missing the 12th, and final qualifying spot by one-hundredth of a second. Duke's Shannon Rowbury nosed Bales at the line with a time of 4:18.93.
Sophomore Tipper O'Brien (Kirkwood, Mo.), who was a surprise to even be at the national meet, placed 25th in the men's 1500-meter run with a time of 3:54.69, not qualifying for the final.
Tomorrow, we will recap the women's 10,000-meter run with Tiger Valerie Lauver in competition. She is scheduled to run later tonight at Midnight, central.
The only action for the Tigers in tomorrow's third of four day of the NCAA Championships will be senior Conrad Woolsey in the men's shot put. Woolsey earned a qualifying mark of 59-6¾ on Wednesday for Friday's finals which are slated for 10:15 p.m., central.
CBS will be airing the NCAA Championships on a tape-delay basis next Saturday, June 18. Check local listings for viewings in your area. Visit ncaasports.com for complete results.
