World and Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam from Belgium and Canada’s Damian Warner are the overnight leaders after the first day of the 44th edition of the Hypo Meeting in Gotzis, the second leg of the 2018 IAAF Combined Events Challenge.

Thiam tallied 4112 points, propelled by a 2.01m clearance in the high jump, the highest ever in heptathlon competition and an outright world lead. Warner, who is aiming to become the meeting’s fourth four-time winner, scored 4565 after winning the 100m in 10.31, the long jump with 7.81m and finishing second in the 400m in 47.72.

Thiam on fire

Erica Bougard from the US, this year’s Multistars winner and current world leader, won the 100m hurdles with a 12.80 PB in the fifth heat ahead of her compatriot Alex Gouchenour (13.23) and world silver medallist Carolin Schaefer (13.25). Running in the fourth heat, Thiam was edged by Allison Reaser, but both were credited with 13.45. For Thiam, it was the second-fastest performance of her career.

In the high jump, her favourite event, the 2017 World Athlete of the Year was on fire, topping 1.83m, 1.86m, 1.89m, 1.92m and 1.95m on her first attempt before clearing 2.01m on her second to improve the previous heptathlon best of 1.98m she held jointly with Katharina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain. Points-wise, the clearance, good for 1251, is the second best result ever achieved in a heptathlon competition behind Jackie Joyner Kersee’s 7.27m in the long jump at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, a performance worth 1264 points.

She ended the event with three misses at 2.04m, just one centimetre less than the Belgian record held by Tia Hellebaut.

World indoor bronze medallist Yorgelis Rodriguez finished second at 1.86m, beating Bougard on countback. Thiam carried a 100-point lead over Bougard into the shot put, 2309 to 2209.

World bronze medallist Anouk Vetter won the shot put with a personal best of 15.91m to beat Thiam, who reached 15.29m, also a lifetime best. That effort extended her lead to 224 points over Rodriguez, who threw 14.95m, also a personal best. Bougard reached 13.02m to remain in the top three with 2938. Vetter, meanwhile, climbed from 14th to fourth.

Bougard clocked the fastest time in the 200m with 23.31 to overtake Rodriguez by 36 points to move back into second. Thiam, however, ended the first day with 4112 after clocking 24.61, the third best time of her career.

“It was a perfect first day despite the hot day,” said Thiam, who has in her sights Carolina Kluft’s European record of 7032 set at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. She is 56 points up on her first day total here from one year ago when she tallied 4056 en route to her 7013 performance, her first over the mighty 7000-point barrier.

“I don’t focus on the record. I set two PBs and we are only at the end of May. Last year I didn’t improve in the 100m hurdles and in the 200m in the first day. I had a very good feeling during the high jump. After clearing all the heights until 1.95m at the first attempt, I decided to skip 1.98m. I did not come here to reach the highest number of points but to test myself against the bar at 2.01m.”

Warner on cruise control

Warner, the Olympic bronze medallist, got his campaign for a fourth Gotzis victory off to a flying start, clocking 10.31 in the 100m, the fastest of the day, beating German Rico Freimuth (10.59) and Zach Zemek of the US (10.65).

Warner went on to set a season’s best in the long jump with 7.81m to increase his lead over Freimuth to 163 points in the overall standing. Ziemek jumped 7.43m to stay in third place.

The Canadian then threw a season’s best of 14.83m in the shot put to maintain his lead over Freimuth. The German produced a best put of 14.88m to stay in second, 14 points ahead of recent Multistars winner Martin Roe, who reached 14.99m.

World indoor bronze medallist Maicel Uibo from Estonia won the high jump, topping 2.12m on his second attempt to move up from sixth to second overall. Warner cleared 2.03m to keep his lead. Another Estonian, Karol Tilga, finished second with 2.09m to move from seventh to third.

Kai Kazmirek clocked the fastest time in the 400m with 47.27, beating Warner who clocked 47.72. Warner ended the first day with 4565 points, 218 more than Kazmirek, who moved up from sixth into second place with 4347. Uibo ranks third after five events with 4295.

Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF</s>Reese will go for her second gold medal Wednesday night in the finals. (Image Source: WLOX News)

It was one jump and done for Brittney Reese. The Olympic gold medalist from Gulfport, qualified for the long jump competition Tuesday night with her first jump.

City leaders helped organize a watch party for Reese at Buffalo Wild Wings. The restaurant was decorated with red, white, and blue. The servers even sported patriotic garb with their uniforms. An indoor long jump competition, minus the running start, added some playful competition to the festivities. And there was even a place to snap a selfie with a life-size Brittney cut out.

Even with all the fun off the screen, the focus was still on Brittney qualifying. Her sister says it's been four long years of training, surgery, and recovery for Brittney, but Tuesday night in Rio, she gave it all she had.

"I talked to her earlier today. She did say she had like a little cold because of the rain and then it got real real hot in Rio. She said she felt fine, just a little bit congested, but you really couldn't tell anything was wrong with her with that jump. She looked like she was just ready to go," said Kimyata 

Young, Brittney Reese's older sister.

Reese will go for her second gold medal Wednesday night in the finals. If she wins, she will be the first woman to win back to back golds in the long jump.</s>TORRANCE — Jumping up and throwing her arms up in the air, West Ranch’s Shelbi Schauble set a new personal record in the girls triple jump at the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet at El Camino College on Saturday.

Schauble qualified for the CIF state meet with a jump of 38 feet, 8.25 inches, beating her previous personal best which was 38-4 set at the Arcadia Invitational.

Scratching her first jump, Schauble was able to regain her composure and successfully make the next two jumps at 36-11 and 38-00, respectively. She then followed up by scratching her fourth and fifth jumps setting up a dramatic sixth and final jump at 38-08 that would determine if she went through to state.

“I just knew somehow that I would get there,” Schauble said. “…It came down to that sixth jump and I was literally, like, crying after that fifth scratch like please just give it to me and it all came together. I never thought I would get this far and it’s such an amazing feeling.”

The first-year triple jumper finished seventh in the event and still thinks that she has to refine her craft a little more before the state meet next weekend in at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

“I have too work on my phases and just the little things like leaning into the jump,” Schauble said.

“My second phase definitely needs a lot of work. I think what got me far today was the fact that I worked so hard on my landing, so it’s really just improving on what I did today.”

For now, Schauble is planning on celebrating with some cookies, ice cream and candy.

“I’m a big dessert lover, so you know that’s what I’m ready for,” she said.</s>For the Incline Village track and field team, there was the thrill of victory at the state championships, but also the agony of defeat.

And it was highly focused in one event: high jump.

While having four of Nevada's best jumpers has been a luxury all season, when it comes down to battling for a state championship, somebody has to win and somebody has to settle for less than victory.

Highlander freshman Millie Jenkins beat sophomore teammate Sami Giangreco in a jump-off to win the title at the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Class 2A Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday, May 18-19, at Carson High School in Carson City.

Jenkins, while wanting to celebrate her championship, was mindful of the disappointment Giangreco was feeling. Giangreco finished second for the second straight season. As a freshman, she lost by 1 inch to a senior from North Tahoe.

Jenkins and Giangreco both reached 5 feet to force the jump off. The bar was placed at 5-03 but was lowered as the girls got tired. Finally, Jenkins made a successful jump that Giangreco couldn't replicate.

The two will likely have close competition over the next couple of years, and it will be even closer when freshman Jada Moore gets back into the mix after recovering from a leg injury suffered a few weeks ago.

Incline senior Haley Carlson finished in fifth (4-08) with the same height she took third with last season.

The girls took fifth place overall with 63 points. They finished behind White Pine (176), North Tahoe (84), Yerington (84) and Pershing County (64).

Jenkins also found success in her other events. She took second in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best time (16.74) and finished fourth in the long jump (15-04.25).

"Millie ended up being our team MVP this year," said Highlanders head coach and athletic director Thomas Reymer. "She finished with the most points on the team."

Jenkins also teamed with Belle Johnson, Emma Perrell and Giangreco to finish a disappointing third in the 4×100 relay, which had some controversy.

Reymer said Perrell felt she was hit during a baton hand-off to Johnson which caused the exchange to take a few seconds longer than normal. But race officials did not see anything egregious and did not make any changes.

Johnson took second in the pole vault for the second straight year. She reached a height of 8-00, just like last year, but fell 3 inches short of the winner.

"Belle was disappointed, but she should be excited in both the long jump and especially pole vault where she medaled," Reymer said of the team's senior co-captain. "She really had that competitive drive everyday that helped push the rest of the kids in practice. She is going to be very hard to replace and will be missed, her and Haley both."

Giangreco threw a personal best 98-04 in discus to place third and reach the podium in a second event.

Jenkins (15-04.25), Johnson (14-04.25) and Perrell (14-03.50) placed fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the long jump with Johnson recording a personal best.

DJ Littleton recorded the highest finish for the Highlander boys. He took third in the long jump (19-05.25) and was also eighth in high jump.

Freshman Dylan Cleary, Incline's starting quarterback in the fall, recorded personal bests in the 100-meter dash and also the 400. He placed third in the 400 and eighth in the 100 and 200.

Senior Noah Cleary, Dylan's older brother, reached a personal best in pole vault, reaching a height of 10-06, to place fourth.

Sebastian Hernandez, a freshman, ran against a bunch of juniors and seniors in the 800 and set a personal best (2:08.73) in earning eighth place.

With just a few seniors graduating, the future is bright for Incline track.

"There was some disappointment, but they're a small, young team," Reymer said. "The girls were probably a little more disappointed than the boys. But a couple of team members that didn't make it to state came down and helped support the team. They got to see how it works at state with the team all supporting each other. I think this is gonna be a great group as they get older."</s>Morro Bay High School sophomore Joey Ruddell qualified for the CIF State Championships in the high jump Saturday with a third-place finish at the CIF-Southern Section Masters at El Camino College in Torrance.

For the second week in a row, Ruddell cleared 6-6 to tie his own school record and secure a spot at state, which will be held at Buchanan High School in Clovis starting June 1.

The 6-foot-9 Ruddell won the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 title last Saturday with a 6-6 clearance.

It will be the second year in a row Morro Bay High sends a high jumper to the state meet after Jacob Furbee qualified last year as a sophomore.

Paso Robles junior Kimberly Buchanan finished her first season as a track and field athlete with a seventh-place finish in the shot put at Masters. The throw of 39-10 1/2 failed to qualify Buchanan, whose primary sport is basketball, for the State Championships. 





Paso Robles senior Cade England placed 12th in the triple jump with a leap of 43'-9" on Saturday and will not advance to the CIF State Meet. England placed second in the Division 2 finals last week with a leap of 44-10 3/4.

Still to come

There is still one more SLO County track and field athlete looking to book a spot in the State Meet.

SLO High junior Anneke Moersdorf (triple jump) had not completed her event at time of publication Saturday. This story will be updated as results go final.</s>Huber flew nearly eight meters to claim the top of the podium.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (MSUM Athletics) — A record-shattering performance helped Minnesota State University Moorhead senior Brian Huber cap off his Dragon track and field career in style as he won the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship in the long jump on Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.

Huber jumped a school record 26-2 1/4 in the long jump finals to claim the first national championship of his career. The Staples, Minn., native is the first NSIC athlete to win the national long jump title, dating back to 1992.

“It’s been a roller coaster for me my last couple of years,” Huber said. “I didn’t make the nationals outdoors last year. To battle back from injury and to come back and win the national title…it is going to take a while for it to set in.”

The last MSUM men’s national champion was Nulle (indoors) in the weight throw in 2003. He was the first NCAA national champion at MSUM. The last MSUM male outdoor champion was Brad Swanson, who won the NAIA Decathlon in 1991. The last national individual champion from the Dragon track and field programs was Jennifer Hensel, who won the pole vault outdoors in 2008.

Huber is the seventh male from Dragon track and field to win a national championship. He joins Chris Nulle (weight throw 2003), Greg Zahalka (three-mile 1993), Brad Swanson (decathlon 1991), John Alin (1,500 in 1985), Ron Graham (two-mile in 1979) and Dave Bergstrom (high jump 1979).</s>That’s the way you start the road to redemption.

Damian Warner put together his best first day ever in a decathlon, piling up a personal best 4,565 points to establish a massive 218-point lead over second-place German Kai Kazmirek at the Hypomeeting Saturday in Gotzis, Austria.

The score is Warner’s best over the first five events by 35 points. It comes after last month’s disappointment at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, where he exited the competition after failing to record a height in pole vault.

In what will mark his final major event of this season, the 28-year-old Londoner put up a 10.31-second 100-metre dash, a 7.81m long jump, a 14.83m in shot put, a 2.03 high jump and clocked 47.72 seconds in the 400m.

The pole vault is part of Sunday’s second half.

But if Warner keeps rolling, he is on pace to shatter his Canadian record of 8,695 from the 2015 world championships in Beijing.

Warner is the two-time defending Gotzis champ and is looking for his fourth career title at the competition. Only one other decathlete has won it four times — Czech Roman Sebrle, who was first five years in a row from 2001-05.

Sebrle also holds the meet record of 9,026 points.</s>There may be a two year time jump in “The Walking Dead” season 9. According to a new teaser that has been posted online, the TV series will be following the comic book series closely when it comes to the events after the war against the Saviors.

According to a report by ComicBook, an online post, which appears to have been taken down, teases the plot of the next season to be an adaptation of Volume 22 of the comics titled “A New Beginning.” There is a two year time jump in this comic book by Robert Kirkman, and it may be the same with the TV series.

The picture that was reportedly posted online just showed a hat for the season 9 crew, with a message from the new showrunner Angela Kang. “Welcome to season 9! Here’s to a great year ahead and ‘A New Beginning,’” the message read.

The words “A New Beginning” in quotes is what gives away the secret of the plot for the next season. Filming of the next season began earlier this month, and the first look from the production set, showing the heroes on horseback, appears to further confirm that there will be a time jump.

Meanwhile, the franchise is preparing to celebrate its 15th anniversary. According to a report by Comic Book, Skybound and Image Comics will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the franchise with a Walking Dead Day on October 13.

Exclusive merchandise to mark the day will be available for purchase at select comic shops. Among the merchandise is a new variant of “The Walking Dead” #1 issue, created by series artist Charlie Adlard.

“The Walking Dead” season 9 is set to premiere sometime later this year. The producers are yet to announce an exact release date. Meanwhile, the spin-off series is currently on air.</s>Black Hills High School junior Maisy Williams entered the finals of the Class 2A girls high jump at the state track and field championships at Mount Tahoma in Tacoma on Thursday ranked No. 2 in the state in her classification.

And that’s exactly how she finished.

Williams' jump of 5 feet, 2 inches, earned her a runner-up finish in the event, behind Lakewood senior Yareli Ochoa, who cleared 5-4.

“I’ve been chilling at second place all season long,” Williams said. “That’s where I was expected to land. Basically, it’s bittersweet. Second place is a really good place to be, but nothing like being first."

Williams easily cleared 5-2 on her first attempt and had a chance to match Ochoa at 5-4, which would have tied her personal best, but came up short.

“That (last) jump was my closest,” Williams said. “Sometimes it’s just the way the bar falls, and it didn’t exactly fall for me this time, and that’s OK.”

Williams was one of six girls to clear 5-2 but placed second because all of her jumps prior to her attempts at 5-4 were clean, while her other competitors needed more attempts.

Williams still has a chance to earn an individual state championship on Saturday in the long jump. She enters that event ranked No. 1 in the state.

“I’ll have to bring it,” Williams said. “Just like high jump, the competition is really tight.”

Coming into both events with such a high ranking could be a lot of pressure, but Williams said she feels it differently depending on the event.

“Long jump has always been a fun activity, but high jump is where I feel the pressure,” she said. “Long jump is a lot more fun for me, maybe because I don’t take it as seriously, as bad as that sounds. High jump may mean a little bit more, but sometimes the things that mean the most you’re not the best at.”

Timberline senior Keshara Romain also took second place in the 3A girls long jump, finishing with a mark of 37-4 1/2. Romain, who is battling a sore hamstring, marked on her first two attempts and passed on three of her final four.

At Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Northwest Christian senior Eliana Summers blew by the field in the 2B girls 1,600, running a 5:17.58 — a personal best by more than four seconds — to claim her first title in the event.

Rainier junior Eliana Hansen was the runner-up at a personal-best 5:26.43.

This was the second state-title win of Summers’ track-and-field career. She is the defending 2B champion in the 3,200, and enters as the top seed in that event Saturday.

A pair of runners from Pope John Paul II finished in the top three in 1B in the 1,600. Senior Jack Farrell (4:38.65) was the runner-up in the event, while freshman Kobe Deutscher (4:43.86) followed in third.

Northwest Christian senior Megan McSheffrey nabbed the No. 3 seed into Saturday’s girls 300 hurdles final with a personal-best time of 46.16.</s>Nafissatou Thiam claimed her second title in the heptathlon and Damian Warner his fourth in the decathlon at the Hypo Meeting IAAF Combined Events Challenge fixture in Gotzis, Austria, on Sunday (27).

Thiam tallied a world-leading 6806 to successfully defend her title at Moesle Stadium while Warner collected 8795, also a world-leading performance, to break his own Canadian national record.

Thiam began strong on day two with a 6.62m leap in the long jump, improving her personal best by six centimetres and missing the Belgian record by a scant one centimetre. That upped her total to 5158 for a 126-point lead over Erica Bougard of the US, who also improved her personal best to 6.62m to remain in second with 5032 ahead of Cuba’s Yorgelis Rodriguez, who reached 6.56m for 4983. The 2017 world bronze medallist, Anouk Vetter, leaped 6.25m to up her score to 4763.

That put Thiam’s tally 75 points ahead of last year’s, well on course to challenge Carolina Kluft’s European record. But those ambitions were halted in the javelin where, hampered by the winds, she could only manage a best of 47.20m, more than 12 metres short of her 59.32m effort in 2017. That put her at 5964 points and effectively out of the record chase.

Rodriguez threw a season’s best with 48.65m to overtake Bougard for second with 5817 to the American’s 5737. Alina Shukh, last year’s European U20 champion, won the event with 52.46m ahead of Vetter’s 51.27m.

Thiam concluded a successful weekend with a 2:18.62 run in the 800m for a 6806 performance, the third best of her career. Her two days in Gotzis was highlighted by a heptathlon all-time best of 2.01m.

Rodriguez ran 2:12.73 to take the runner-up spot with 6742, a Cuban national record. Bougard won the two-lap event in 2:08.42 to smash her heptathlon career best with 6725. Dutchwoman Vetter was fourth with 6428 ahead of Austria’s Verena Preiner (6308 PB) and another Belgian, Hanne Maudens who scored 6252.

“It was a great weekend. I set a lot of PBs and I did not expect to score many of them,” Thiam said.

“In the javelin there was a lot of wind and I changed my run-up, but I am not sad at all about missing the chance to break the European record. This competition was a step on the way towards the European Championships. I am looking forward to Berlin. This weekend I wanted to assess where I am at this point of the season.”

Warner, the overnight leader, picked up where he left off by winning the 110m hurdles in 13.56, a season’s best, to increase his lead to 329 points over German Kai Kazmirek, whose 14.42 was also a season’s best. After six events the Canadian scored 5597 to Kazmirek’s 5268. German Rico Freimuth clocked a quick 13.96 to move up from 11th to sixth with 5164. His compatriot Matthias Brugger improved his ranking from fifth to third with a total score of 5207 after clocking 14.24.

Warner produced another season’s best with 47.32m in the discus throw to increase his lead to 402 points. Kazmirek, last year’s world bronze medallist, threw 43.76m to remain in second, just four points over Freimuth who finished second in this event with 48.58m over Grenada’s Lindon Victor who threw 48.82m. Sadly Freimuth pulled out of the competition before the start of the pole vault.

That event was led by Maicel Uibo of Estonia and Zachery Ziemek of the US, who both topped 5.30m. That moved Uibo from fifth into second with 6889. Warner meanwhile topped 4.80m for a 7261 total after eight events. Brugger moved up to third with 6905 thanks to a 5.20m clearance. Ziemek followed in fourth place with 6893.

Warner improved his total to 8028 after the penultimate event, reaching 61.94m in the javelin, 275 points up on Uibo who threw 61.75m. Last year’s European U20 champion Nicklas Kaul was the best of the day, reaching 68.78 to climb into eighth place overall with 7470.

Warner crowned his successful weekend with a 4:26.59 run in the 1500m, finishing behind Brugger (4:23:93) and Dutchman Pieter Braun (4:24.29), to become the fourth four-time Gotzis winner after Carolina Kluft, Roman Sebrle and Sabine Braun.

“It means a lot to win this meeting for the fourth time,” said a delighted Warner. “I was solid across the board, especially in the long jump, the discus and in the hurdles. We were very lucky with the weather. I will now come back home to assess the rest of the season.”

The Canadian star beat Uibo, who set a career best with 8514, and Braun, who improved his personal best to 8343. Uibo received strong support from a big group of Estonian fans who made the long journey to Austria.

“I did not make any particular highlights, but the key was to be consistent across all events,” Uibo said.
World and Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam becomes the first female heptathlete ever to jump over 2 metres (6 ft 7 in). In this year's heptathlon event at the Götzis, Austria, competition, she clears the bar at 2.01 m, also a season's best in women's high jump overall.