Hallock 2nd, McNairy 7th at heptathlon finals

Sunday, May 7

Corvallis, Ore.

All Day

Oregon State

Pac-12 Combined Events Championships

Throws coach David Dumble, Saskia McNairy, multis coach Eric Schueffner and Kara Hallock celebrate.

Photo by: Oregon State Athletics

May 07, 2017 | Women's Track & Field

Heptathlon results Heptathlon results Heptathlon grid Heptathlon scores Decathlon results Decathlon scores

By: Athletic Communications

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Senior Kara Hallock took second and redshirt sophomore Saskia McNairy placed seventh on Sunday in the Pacific-12 Conference heptathlon championships on a historic day for the Oregon State women's program at the Whyte Track & Field Center.

Hallock scored 5,551 points in the seven-event, two-day competition, the No. 2 all-time mark at OSU and a PR by 172 points. She started Sunday's action in fourth place, but moved into second after the first event and never looked back.

"Of course I wanted to win, but once that wasn't in the cards I'm super-happy with second place," said Hallock, a Lebanon High School graduate who competed at Lane Community College for two years before transferring to OSU for the 2014-15 academic year.

"I was hoping for a top-three finish, so second place is awesome. It has been a long journey and lots of hard work. Mentally and physically I've matured, so it's just crazy to look back and where I came from."

The top 24 heptathletes nationally qualify for the NCAA championships, at Hayward Field in Eugene on June 7-10. Hallock will discover if she qualified after other conferences hold their heptathlon championships next weekend.

"I'm super-close," she said. "Cross my fingers I hope to get in there."

Hallock's finish matched the highest for any OSU woman at a Pac-12 meet since the program was revived in 2005 after an 18-year hiatus. Laura Carlyle placed second in the 1500 meters in 2012.

"I am so excited, it was amazing to have my whole family, my friends and my teammates here," she said. "That helped so much. It was awesome always hearing them in the background, cheering us on."

Hallock began the day in fourth place but moved into second when she won the long jump at 19-4, good for 816 points. She had the two longest jumps in the field, as she went 19-2 on her second attempt.

She then threw 139-1 on her first attempt in the javelin, a PR by more than 11 feet and the No. 8 mark in OSU history. She was second in the rotation and scored 713 points. She finished with a 2:23.10 in the 800, just off her lifetime best of 2:22.34, for 782 points.

"My javelin went really well," she said. "Looking back to my freshman year, when I threw maybe 80 feet … that's a huge PR for me and I am really proud of that. I worked a lot this year to get that better, and all my hard work paid off."

McNairy broke the 5,000-point barrier for the first time and finished with 5,092 points, the No. 4 all-time mark. She crushed her former PR of 4,708 by a whopping 284 points.

McNairy tied for third in the long jump with a PR of 18-7.75 on her final attempt, for 753 points. It was the eighth-best long jump in school history by .50 inches; she also held the old No. 8 mark of 18-7.25.

McNairy saved her javelin series by throwing 127-4 on her final attempt, an improvement of 17 feet from the best of her previous two attempts. She scored 645 points and moved from ninth place to seventh. She held on to seventh by scoring 717 points in the 800 with a 2:28.12 clocking, just off her lifetime best.

"My main goal coming in, since I was ranked 10^th, was to try and claw my way up to eighth," said McNairy, a Lakeridge High School graduate who redshirted in 2016. "To get seventh is amazing.

"My goal was to score 5,000. I've had a rough time; my freshman year (2014-15) I had mono, and last year I redshirted. So this is my first full year of competing. To score 5,000 is amazing, and I'm super-happy. I had a lot of PRs this weekend, which I'm super thankful for."

On Saturday, Hallock established lifetime bests in the 100 hurdles (13.90), the shot put (38-5) and the 200 (25.20). She was in fourth place with 3,240 points heading into Sunday's action; her javelin throw gave her four PRs in seven events.

McNairy PRed in the 100 hurdles (15.16), the high jump (5-3) and the 200 (25.21). She was in ninth place with 2,977 points after Day 1. Her long jump on Sunday gave her four PRs in seven events.
On Saturday, Hallock became the fourth woman in OSU history to break the 14-second barrier in the hurdles and her 13.90 ranks No. 4 all-time. She also tied Allie Church for ninth all-time in the 200 with her 25.20 clocking.

Hallock credited McNairy for "changing my game a little bit," and helping her become a better athlete.

"I usually get super-tight, and stress myself out," Hallock said. "Saskia is like, 'We're just gonna have fun!' and that really helped a lot.

"I mean, if you're not going to have fun, why do it? So I give her a lot of props for that."

Their performances gave the Beavers 10 team points heading into next weekend's Pac-12 conference championships at Hayward Field. They are tied with Washington State for second place behind first-place UCLA, the early leader at 15.

With the four more top-10 efforts on Sunday and six for the weekend, the Beavers have set six school records and posted 60 all-time top-10 times or marks this season.

Next up for the Beavers are the Pac-12 Championships, set for Saturday and Sunday at Hayward Field. They finished in 11^th place with 23.50 points at the 2016 championships, a four-fold increase in points from 2015 and the most in a conference meet since the program's reinstatement in 2006. Their previous high was 12 in 2013.

For more information on the Oregon State track and field program, follow the Beavers on Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry, or on Twitter at twitter.com/@BeaverTFXC

Pac-12 Combined Events Championships

FINAL STANDINGS: Alissa Brooks-Johnson, WSU, 5,638; Kara Hallock, OSU, 5,551; Lyndsey Lopes, USC, 5,371; Christina Chenault, UCLA, 5,269; Kendall Gustafson, UCLA, 5,217; Monique Van, UCLA, 5,144; Saskia McNairy, OSU, 5,092; Maja Wichhart-Donzo, Colorado, 5,083; Liz Harper, WSU, 5,038; Alex Harmon-Thomas, USC, 4,741; Lindsey Schauble, WSU, 4,741; Mariah Slack, Colorado, 4,568; Drianna Mustin, Colorado, 4,420; Michaela Wenning, Colorado, 3,937.

Saturday's results

100 HURDLES: Kara Hallock, 13.90, 993 points; Saskia McNairy, 15.16, 821 points.
HIGH JUMP: Kara Hallock, 5-3, 736 points; Saskia McNairy, 5-3, 736 points.
SHOT PUT: Kara Hallock, 38-5, 642 points; Saskia McNairy, 33-11.50, 552 points.
200 METERS: Kara Hallock, 25.20, 869 points; Saskia McNairy, 25.21, 868 points.

Sunday's events

LONG JUMP: Kara Hallock, 19-4 (816 points); Saskia McNairy, 18-7.75, 753 points.
JAVELIN: Kara Hallock, 139-1 (713 points); Saskia McNairy, 127-4, 645 points.
800 METERS: Kara Hallock, 2:23.10, 782 points; Saskia McNairy, 2:2812, 717 points.

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