May 17, 2001
Complete Final Heptathlon and Decathlon Results
SAN DIEGO - Track and field athletes will tell you that the heptathlon is closer to a marathon that a sprint.
That analogy proved true Thursday at the 2001 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the SDSU Sports Deck, as San Diego State senior Aja Frary came from behind to win her second conference heptathlon title with a two-day total of 5643 points.
Frary trailed Brigham Young's Kirsten Bolm by 250 points after the opening four events Wednesday. However Bolm, who was suffering from a hip injury, ran through her first two attempts at the long jump before fouling on her third try and withdrawing from the competition with two events to go. Bolm's exit left the door wide open for Frary, who stepped through it an promptly slammed it behind her.
"I woke up this morning and I knew I was going to have to chase (Bolm) down," said Frary, who won the 1999 Western Athletic Conference indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon titles as well as last season's Mountain West indoor pentathlon championship before redshirting the 2000 outdoor campaign. "It just happened that she didn't have a good long jump and I was able to do that. As soon as she fouled out I knew I had won.
"I did a lot of good things during this competition and some not as good as I would have liked, but it just goes to show that if you keep working hard you can overcome almost anything."
With Bolm on the sidelines, Frary cleared 19'-9 1/2" to win the long jump then put up a solid throw of 112'-9" in the javelin before easily winning the 200 meters with a season-best time of 2:15.20.
"Anytime you win an event like this you have to have patience and you have to be relentless," said SDSU head coach Rahn Sheffield. "There are seven events in the heptathlon and a lot can happen over those seven events. But in order to win, you have to be persistent and you have to have character. Aja had both today. She executed everything she had to do in order to win."
Brigham Young's Maret Kamorova scored 5146 to finish in second, while Utah's Shanae Nixon took third with 5073 points. Aztec sophomore Leslie Miller placed seventh with a career-high 4967 points.
The focus for Frary and the Aztecs now shifts to the individual events, which get started on SDSU's Choc Sportsman Oval at 11 a.m. on Friday. Frary, who has already qualified for the NCAA Championships in the heptathlon, will be nearly as busy over the next two days as she was during the heptathlon. She is slated to compete in the 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles, long jump 4x100 relay and 4x400 relay.
"I know what I can do and I go after my goals each and every time," Frary said. "I've been working hard for this all year. I really wanted to get this 10 points for my team and that's what it came down to for me. Hopefully I'll be able to score some more over the next two days."
Women's Collegiate Track and Field
May 17, 2001
2001 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championships
Choc Sportsman Oval at the SDSU Sports Deck
San Diego, Calif.
Women's Heptathlon Women - Final Results
1. Aja Frary, San Diego State, 5643, 2. Maret Komarova, BYU, 5146, 3. Shanae Nixon, Utah, 5073, 4. Erianne Allen, Utah, 5018, 5. Kristy Slade,Utah, 5013, 6 Lindsey Malmgren, CSU, 4984, 7. Leslie Miller, San Diego State, 4967, 9. Brittany Edmonds, Air Force, 4352, DNF - Kirsten Bolm, BYU.