Sari-Bentzur Moves Up One Spot To Finish Ninth In NCAA Heptathlon

Omer, Israel native finishes just 52 points out of sixth place.

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May 31, 2002

BATON ROUGE, La. - University of New Mexico's junior Keren Sari-Bentzur wrapped up her trip to Louisiana with a strong finish in the heptathlon on Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. After enduring an hour delay due to area thunderstorms, Sari-Bentzur ran her fastest 800 meters of the year to finish a solid ninth in the women's heptathlon. Unfortunately, freshman Kelli Myers did not fare as well in her NCAA debut, failing to advance to the finals in high jump. The two were the first Lobos to compete at the national championships since 1998.

Sari-Bentzur moved up one spot from her day one position, tallying a final score of 5,285, the second-best total of her career. The Omer, Israel native began the day with a solid effort in the long jump, scoring 834 points (5th) with her leap of 19-06.25. However, despite notching her second-best javelin mark of the year (106-00.00), Sari- Bentzur slipped in the rankings after scoring just 520 points (14th) in the event. As she did at the Mountain West Championships two weeks ago, Sari-Bentzur rallied in the 800, clocking a season-best time of 2:23.81 (11th - 772 pts.) to conclude the grueling two-day competition. Her final score was a mere 36 points out of the eighth and final scoring position, and just 52 points out of sixth place. MWC Champion Leslie Miller of San Diego State finished 174 points behind Sari-Bentzur in 13th place, while Utah's Erianne Allen placed 14th with a score of 5,075. Kansas State senior Austra Skujyte cruised to her second- straight heptathlon title with a winning score of 6,061.

Meanwhile, Myers top effort of 5-07.25 was not enough to move her into the final group of high jumpers. The true freshman from Lovington, N.M. entered the meet with a season-best mark of 5-10.75 in the event, and should be a regular competitor at the national meet in the years to come. UCLA senior Darnesha Griffith won the event title with a leap of 6 feet even, while Whitney Evans of Washington State was the runner-up with a mark of 5-10.50.