Jenny Kenyon was eagerly awaiting word of her final results after just completing the seventh and final event of the Pacific-10 Conference Heptathlon Championships on Sunday afternoon at Hayward Field.
Head coach Tom Heinonen called her attention, mouthing the word “five” excitedly while holding up all five fingers.
Assistant coach Mark Stream hurried over and embraced Oregon’s only heptathlete proudly. Then, the P.A. announcer said Kenyon achieved a career-best 5,032 points, which brought an enthusiastic applause from the crowd and a satisfied smile on Kenyon’s face.
Her mark was good enough for a strong fourth-place finish out of the ten-person event, bettering her sixth-place finish (4,432) at last season’s championships. It also gives the Ducks four points to use at next weekend’s Pac-10 track and field championships.
The sophomore from Newbury Park, Calif., had set a goal for this year to break the 5,000 point barrier. Her previous career-high was 4,793.
“It feels really good,” said Kenyon, still catching her breath from her second-place finish in the 800 meters at a time of 2 minutes, 19.44 seconds. “I knew I could do it. I now feel like I can compete with the big girls. I don’t feel like a newcomer, which helps definitely.”
Kenyon started off the two-day event on the right foot by setting a PR in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.59.
“The hurdles were a real plus for her,” Stream said. “It definitely helped her out in the other events. She just chipped away at it all weekend and got it done.”
Kenyon did drop off a bit in the high jump (5-2 1/4) and shot put (32-9 3/4), but finished off Saturday strong in the 200 meters.
Kenyon finished third in the event with a time of 25.09, which gave her a first day PR point total of 3,017.
Momentum from the first day carried over to Sunday’s final three events. Kenyon opened the day by setting her heptathlon PR in the long jump with a length of 18-4 1/2.
The javelin awaited next, which is an event Kenyon admitted is “not her best.” But she persevered and finished a respectable sixth in the event with a PR heave of 94 7 1/2.
She capped her weekend with a crowd-pleasing 800-meter run.
Kenyon credits her success to just “getting more familiar with the events.” She said that in high school she only competed in the long jump and the sprints and there is a lot more improvement that needs to be made.
“There’s definitely places I can improve in, so I know I can get even more points next year,” Kenyon said. “I know what I need to do, and now I just need to put it all together.”
One athlete who put it all together was California junior Missy Vanek. Vanek ran away with the Pac-10 Championship with a point total of 5,505. Joy Goff from Stanford (5,113) and Cicel Clinkenbeard from Washington State (5,044) finished second and third respectively.
Vanek finished in the top-four in six of seven events, winning the 800-meter race (2:14.58) and high jump (5-8).
“I love running here,” Vanek said. “There’s so much tradition, and you’re always excited about coming up to Tracktown, U.S.A. I wanted a higher score, but it’s nice to win.”
Vanek seemed to be equally impressed with Kenyon’s performance.
“I was surprised at how well she competed,” Vanek said. “In each event I kept watching out for her. I never knew what she was going to do.”