June 2, 2001
Click Here for Final Heptathlon Results
EUGENE, Ore. -- - San Diego State senior Aja Frary opened the final three events of the heptathlon at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday just as she planned -- by winning the long jump. The 2001 Mountain West Conference heptathlon champion soared to a lifetime best 20'-4.25", picking up 912 points and moving into second place overall, just 18 points behind first-day leader Austra Skujyte of Kansas State.
The balance of the afternoon, however, would not follow the same script as Skujyte, a native of Vilnius, Lithuania who placed 12th at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, all but sewed up the championship in the javelin with a throw of 143'-10" then stayed close enough to Frary in the 800 meters to win the two-day event with 5857 points.
"I was really going for the (overall) win in the 800 meters," Frary said. "I knew I had a lot of points to make up and I needed to beat (Skujyte) by 15 seconds or more and I went after it. This is the NCAAs. I had to leave it all out on the track."
Frary, whose long jump was the second-best ever by an Aztec, closed out the competition by running a 2:16.94 in the 800. Not quite fast enough to catch Skujyte in the overall points race but good enough to take fourth in the event. She finished the day in third overall with a new SDSU- and Mountain West Conference-record point total of 5751, just eight points behind second-place finisher Michelle Perry of UCLA.
"This is the end to a great year for me", said Frary, SDSU's first top-3 finisher at the NCAA championships since LaTanya Sheffield in the 400-meter hurdles in 1986. "I went out there and I gave it my all. I have no regrets. This is the NCAAs and you're supposed to put it all on the line and go for it. You don't want to look back and say `what if'. I know that I gave it my all and I can go on with the rest of my life knowing that. I'm happy. I worked really hard for this and I'm proud of what I accomplished."
San Diego State head coach Rahn Sheffield was also proud of his latest All-American.
"There was a lot of pressure on Aja over the last two days," Sheffield said. "There were a lot of ups and downs, but she never let it get to her. She set personal records in almost all her events and earned the right to be on the victory stand.
"She could have very easily played it safe and gone for second place but instead she went for the win (during the 800 meters). You can be proud of yourself when you walk away after you put it all on the line. For Aja to finish third in the country is a major accomplishment."
2001 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
University of Oregon, Hayward Field
Eugene, Ore.
Women's Heptathlon - Final Results (Top-10 only)
1. Austra Skujyte, Kansas State, 5857, 2. Michelle Perry, UCLA, 5759, 3. Aja Frary, San Diego State, 5751, 4. Ellannee Richardson, Washington State, 5677, 5. Barbara Azlendakova, Iowa State, 5556, 6. Angela Craft, Purdue, 5547, 7. Gi-Gi Miller, Arkansas, 5437, 8. Mary Varga, Akron, 5419, 9. Kendra Reimer, Texas A&M, 5382, 10. Katherine Livesey, Nebraska, 5375.