UCI’s Turpin wins heptathlon

UC Irvine junior Annmarie Turpin won the heptathlon Thursday in the

Big West Conference track and field championships at Cal State

Northridge.

Turpin finished with a career-best total of 5,228 points, the

fourth-best score in UCI history. Idaho’s Dacia Fernandez placed

second with 5,189, Anteater senior Jessica Stafford was third with a

career-best total of 5,093 points (No. 6 in UCI history) and

defending champion Katie Farner of Utah State finished fourth with

5,078 points.

Turpin is the fourth UCI athlete since 1985 to win the conference

heptathlon title and the first since Michelle Merritt won in 1994.

In Thursday’s events, Turpin went 16 inches, 10 3/4 feet in the

long jump, threw the javelin 119-7 and ran the 800 meters in 2:22.90.

Stafford had marks of 17-6 1/4 in the long jump, 127-0 in the javelin

throw and 2:21.92 in the 800.

In the decathlon Thursday, UCI juniors Jon Stewart and Aaron Lewis

finished fourth and fifth. Cal Poly’s John Takahashi was the champion

with 7,307 points and Idaho’s Jerome Richardson finished second with

7,292. Stewart scored 6,443 points and Lewis 6,102.

In Thursday’s events, Stewart had marks of 16.60 in the 110-meter

high hurdles, 134-8 in the discus throw, 12-11 in the pole vault,

157-11 in the javelin throw and 4:56.74 in the 1,500 meters.