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May 12, 2001
BERKELEY -
Washington State's Whitney Evans led the heptathlon and Santiago Lorenzo from Oregon held the lead in the decathlon after the first day of competition in the Pac-10 Multi-Events Championships Saturday at Edwards Stadium.
The events conclude Sunday afternoon.
Evans, who was third in the Pac-10 heptathlon in 1999 and redshirted last season, has 3,318 points after the first four events. Julie Tinker of Stanford is a close second with 3,305 points, while WSU's Ellannee Richardson is third at 3,205. Cal junior Shawna Adkins holds down sixth place with 2,982 points.
Evans scored well in her best event, the high jump, with a leap of 5-11.25, good for 991 points. She also set a personal best in the shot put with a toss of 34-11.
Adkins established PRs in three of four events Saturday - 100-meter hurdles (14.84ht), shot put (1st place, 38-6.25) and 200 meters (25.87). Her first-day total of 2,982 is also more than 100 points higher than her previous best (2,859).
Lorenzo finished second in 1999 and 2000 and came into this year's meet ranked No. 1 in the conference with a qualifying score of 7,726. On Saturday, he scored 3,920 points to open a 150-point lead over Washington State's Steve Dwyer (3,770). Russell Silvers of USC is in third place with 3,756 points, followed closely by Oregon's Billy Pappas (3,721) and Stanford's Jason Goff (3,717). Cal's Matt Blair stands in sixth place with 3,558 points.
Lorenzo opened with the second-fastest time of the day in the 100 meters with a time of 11.10. He also had the top performance in the 400 meters with a time of 48.97.
Sunday's events get underway at 11 a.m. with the men's 110-meter hurdles and conclude at 5:15 p.m. with the men's 1500 meters.
Heptathlon Quotes
Shawna Adkins, California
How were you feeling this morning before your first Pac-10 heptathlon?
"Last night, actually, I slept. The two nights before I could not sleep. I would think about the meet and wake up. I was really nervous. But as soon as I stepped out here, it was good. After the hurdles, I felt so much more relaxed."
How do you rate your overall performance today?
"I'm so juiced. I'm on pace to go 5300, which might take me to nationals. On the high jump, I didn't jump too well, but the hurdles put me ahead of schedule."
Whitney Evans, Washington State (1st day leader)
Comment on your performance today:
"I was happy with most of it. The shot put didn't go so well. Everything else was OK. High jump is my best event. But my days are kind of even, other than the high jump."
How to do you feel about your chances to win?
"I'm definitely going to go for it. I always have to compete against Ellannee (Richardson), my teammate and Julie Tinker (Stanford). I think it'll be hard to win, but I think I can do it."
How were the conditions today"
"It was good, other than the wind switching so much. They were deciding which way to run races. But other than that, it was good."
Decathlon Quotes
Santiago Lorenzo, Oregon (1st day leader)
General comments:
"It was pretty good. I'm pretty pleased. That's my second-best total for a first day appearance. So, I'm pretty happy, especially with the high jump (6-4.25). The high jump treated me really well. I carried the 100, too (11.10). The track seems fast, it's pretty nice. But the wind is kind of messy. I thought we were going to have a tailwind in the backstretch of the 400, but then it was like a hurricane against us. I think the wind is going to play a pretty tricky role tomorrow, especially with the pole vault and the discus."
Matt Blair, California
On today's performance:
"I feel I really didn't perform to my capabilities. You can't be perfect every day, but I feel I can compete at a much higher level than I am right now. I've had an injury so it hasn't allowed me to work on my approaches and to get my steps down to where they're really consistent. When you come into a decathlon, you have to be prepared in every event, and I just felt like I wasn't. It's tough to work hard all year for this meet and to just not peak at the right time. My best events are tomorrow, but I feel I'm way behind. Right now, I'm really under a lot of marks that I need."
