The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Mehl Captures C-USA Heptathlon Crown
5/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
The redshirt-sophomore scored a season and league-best 4,811 points in the seven-event competition. Teammate Timara McMillan finished close behind in the heptathlon in third place with 4,752 points.
With the impressive performances, the Blazers sit in third place after tallying 34 points through seven events. SMU and Rice are ahead of UAB in the team standings. The Mustangs are currently in first place with 41 points and Rice is in second with 40 points.
After starting the second day of competition in third place, Mehl turned in three career-best marks in three events to claim first place overall with 4,811 points. In the long jump, she leaped 5.59m and garnered a fourth-place finish. She followed with a third-place finish in the javelin throw with a toss of 32.12m on her final attempt after fouling out on the first two tries. In the 800-meter run Mehl shaved two seconds off of her previous personal best with a time of 2:29.76.
McMillan began the day atop the leader board with 2,982 points. She added to her lead in the long jump with a first-place finish of 6.04m besting her previous personal record of 5.79m. She went on to finish 12th in the javelin throw (26.74m) and 13th in the 800-meter run (2:47.18) to finish the day with 4,752 points in third place.
Sterling Cross also competed in the heptathlon and helped add to the Blazers point total after finishing eight with 4,223 points.
Mehl was not done for the day after the heptathlon. In the high jump, she was rewarded with another trip to the medal stand after finishing third with a height of 1.75m.
McMillan's day was not over either as she qualified for the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.73.
Kristina Vaughn scored points for UAB after finishing seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with at time of 11:30.80.
In the other prelims of the running events, Kendel Hood and Sandra Lundberg qualified for the finals in the 1,500-meter run. Hood turned in a time of 4:39.93 and Lundberg crossed the line in 4:41.15.
Alina Varpiotaite qualified in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.14. The senior looks to improve on her third-place finish in the event at the 2007 conference championship.
Championship action wraps up on Saturday with field events starting at Noon, followed by the running events at 5 p.m. CT.
