MARION, Ind. — Abby Clark of Montana Tech and fellow Treasure State native Kaitlyn McColly of Dickinson State both placed in the top five in the heptathlon at the NAIA outdoor track and field championships.
Clark, of Fort Benton, placed third with a cumulative score of 5,126 points. It was her second straight third-place finish in the heptathlon at the national outdoor meet and her third straight top-five placing.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Clark ran a 15.35, just .01 off her PR of 15.34. She broke her previous best in the shot put, throwing 11.63 meters, and also set a new PR in the 200, finishing with a time of 25.43.
The long jump was the first event on Thursday, where she again set a new PR of 5.66 meters. In the javelin, she upped her mark by .01 to 33.53 meters. In the 800, Clark cut over four seconds off her previous best time to finish at 2:21.22.
Hinsdale's McColly, the defending national champion in the outdoor heptathlon, placed fourth in this year's competition with 5,091 points. She won the 100 hurdles at 13.9 and the shot put at 11.88 meters, and took third in the long jump at 5.45 meters.
McColly came in fourth in the 800 meters at 2:22.54 and was sixth in the 200 with a time of 25.9. She was ninth in the javelin with a throw of 32.3 meters and 13th in the high jump at 1.52 meters.
The heptathlon national champion was Rebecca Dutchak of the University of British Columbia, who unseated McColly with a score of 5,252 points.
