Complete heptathlon results (PDF)

ELLENSBURG – She had the top point total of her life and the top total in conference history.
 
Even so, Ali Worthen figures the best still might be yet to come.
 
The Seattle Pacific senior wound up with personal-records marks in five of the seven events, with three on Monday and another pair on Tuesday in breezing to her second consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's heptathlon championship.
 
By the conclusion of the two-day event at wind-whipped Tomlinson Stadium on the Central Washington University campus, Worthen had piled up 5,199 points. That gave her a 259-point bulge on second-place Kelsea Johnson of Alaska Anchorage, and shattered the old GNAC record of 5,053, set by Bridget Johnson of Western Oregon in 2006.
 
In addition, it moved her up to No. 3 on the NCAA Division II list, and she already is an automatic qualifier for the nationals on May 24-26 in Pueblo, Colo. It was 128 points more than her previous PR of 5,071 set on April 2-3 at the Sam Adams Multi-Events in Santa Barbara, Calif., and was nearly 300 above her 2011 conference-winning total of 4,904.
 
“I'm  happy I got that high – 5,200 was just one point away, so that's not much of a difference,” said Worthen (Coos Bay, Ore.). “I'm in a lot better shape than I was last year. And a lot of it is that I'm finally learning those events that I've struggled with.”
 
Indeed, of Worthen's five individual  PRs in the meet (six, counting her final point total), one was in the shot put and one in the javelin, events which typically have been tougher for her. On Monday, she placed second overall in the shot put at 35 feet, 2½ inches, an improvement of nearly two feet from her previous best of 33-3¾. Then on Tuesday, her second of three javelin throws went 109 feet, 10 inches – 7 ½ feet farther than she had ever thrown previously.
 
“I've been practicing the javelin and shot put so much because those have been my really bad events. I'm finally starting to pick up points with those – I don't feel like a joke,” Worthen said with a smile.
 
Worthen's victory provided 10 team points toward what the Falcons are hoping will become their third consecutive conference crown. Freshman Maliea Luquin (Portland, Ore.) added two more with a seventh place. Luquin, competing in her just her second outdoor heptathlon, broke the 4,000-point barrier, finishing with 4,046.
 
The Falcons thus will take 12 points into the rest of the GNAC Championships, set for Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12, at Western Oregon University in Monmouth.
 
Luquin started the meet on Monday with a third consecutive personal-best in the 100-meter hurdles, stopping the watch in 14.56 seconds, good for second place behind Worthen and a full tenth better than the 14.67 she ran at the Beach Invitational in Norwalk, Calif., on April 21. She finished it on Tuesday with a significant drop in the 800 meters, coming across the line fifth among the 17 finishers in 2:39.74. Her old mark in that one was 2:47.08.
 
After winning two of the four events on Monday, Worthen posted a pair of second-place finishes and a fourth place on Tuesday. She went 18-1 ¾ for runner-up in the long jump behind Anchorage's Johnson (18-6½), then was fourth in the javelin at 109-10.
 
In the meet-ending 800, Worthen was third in a pack of three at the front midway through the race. She surged in front heading up the backstretch and still head the lead coming toward the wire. But Johnson gradually closed the gap and out-leaned Worthen at the wire, 2:21.97-2:22.04.
 
Worthen's time was 2½ seconds faster than her previous best of 2:24.52.
 
“Karl (SPU head coach Lerum) told me that I need to run a 2:21 if I wanted to get 5,200 points,” Worthen said. “I'm always going for a 2:20 – that's always my goal if I can get back down there.”
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Multi-Event Championships
Monday, April 30, 2012
Tomlinson Stadium / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
Heptathlon final standings  – 1, Ali Worthen (SPU) 5,199+; 2, Kelsea Johnson (UAA) 4,940#; 3, Katie Reichert (WWU) 4,269; 4, Tayler Fettig (CWU) 4,217; 5, Charlene Harber (WOU) 4,172; 6, Jill Bennett (NNU) 4,092; 7, Maliea Luquin (SPU) 4,046; 8, Brooklyn Holton (WWU) 3,964; 9, Marie Smith (NNU) 3,906; 10, Sydney Coffey (WWU) 3,897; 11, Laura Pridgen (NNU) 3,696; 12, Emily Stralser (WWU) 3,623; 13, Hannah Scholter (StM) 3,493; 14, Lacy Wilkins (MSUB) 3,412; 15, Kayla Dolby (WOU) 3,397; 16, Leah Berry (MSUB 3,391; 17, Katy Gross (SPU) 3,374; 18, Siri Berg (CWU) 3,185; Brittany Tri (SPU) DNF.
 
Day 1
100 hurdles – 1, Worthen (SPU) 14.30#! (936 points). Other SPU placers – 2, Luquin 14.56! (901); 3, Gross 15.03* (838); 12, Tri 16.50 (654).
High jump – 1, Tayler Fettig (CWU) 5-7 1/4 / 1.71m (867 points). SPU placers – 2, Worthen 5-5 / 1.65m! (795 points); T10, Tri 4-9 ¾ / 1.47m; 18, Luquin 4-6 ¼ / 1.38m (491); 19, Gross no height (0).
Shot put – 1, Harber (WOU) 41-4 ¼ / 12.60m! (701 points). SPU placers – 2, Worthen 35-2 ½ / 10.73m; 3, Gross 34-5 / 10.49m; 4, Tri 34-4 / 10.46m; 14, Luquin 28-9 ¾ / 8.78m.
200 – 1, Worthen 25.47! (844 points). Other SPU placers – 4, Luquin 26.48* (756); 10, Gross 27.72 (653); 11, Tri 28.03 (628).
 
Day 2
Long jump – 1, Johnson (UAA) 18-6 ½ / 5.65m#! (744 points). SPU placers – 2, Worthen 18-1 ¾ / 5.53m! (709); 4, Gross 17-3 ½ / 5.27m* (634); 11, Luquin 15-8 ¼ / 4.78m (500).
Javelin – 1, Reichert (WWU) 148-4 / 45.21m#! (768 points). SPU placers – 2, Gross 134-7 / 41.03m#* (687); 4, Worthen 109-10 / 33.47; 12, Luquin 80-2 / 24.45m.
800 – 1, Johnson (UAA) 2:21.97 (798). SPU placers – 2, Worthen 2:22.04 (797); 5, Luquin 2:39.74 (576).


+ NCAA automatic qualifying
# NCAA provisional qualifying
! GNAC automatic qualifying
* GNAC provisional qualifying