Close Two-Day Battle Sees Nwaba Atop Podium

By Adam Kopet, DyeStat Assistant Editor

The women's heptathlon had one of the deepest fields ever assembled for an Olympic Trials. 12 women started the competition with a qualifying score of 6,000 points or better, but all of them knew there were only three places that mattered. No matter what happened, someone was going to be left disappointed and off the team to Rio.

The competition started off with fireworks in the 100 hurdles. Kendell Williams of Georgia, fresh off her NCAA title, ran 12.99 for over 1,100 points. Erica Bougard of Mississippi State, not to give her NCAA rival too much ground had the second best time in 13.11. The defending U.S. heptathlon champion, Barbara Nwaba was all the way back in 10^th after the first event.

Nwaba did not remain quiet, however, as in the second event, the high jump, she set a new personal record of 1.90 meters to easily distance herself above her competitors. However, her superb high jumping was only good enough to move her up to third in the point totals. Williams remained in the lead with Erica Bougard still in second.

The shot put can make or break a heptathlete's first day score. Sharon Day-Monroe used a strong performance of 15.19 meters in the shot put to break into the top three for the first time, giving her a second place standing after three events. For Bougard, her time near the top was at a first day end when she was only able to manage 12.30 meters. Nwaba's best mark of 14.16 meters put her into the overall lead.

The final event of day one was the 200. Again, the leader board shifted after Williams ran the best time in 23.67, giving her enough points to move back into second place. Nwaba was able to maintain her place at the top with her 24.17 clocking. The top three was rounded out with Heather Miller-Koch, whose 24.20 200 moved her into third.

After day one, five women were within 100 points of each other with three more events to come. “I feel like it went great,” Nwaba said afterward. Her 3,903 points only gave her an eleven second cushion over Williams in second place. It was a tentative Miller-Koch who found herself in third. A year ago she missed the World Championship team by finishing fourth at nationals. While she was happy with her first day, she recognized it was not yet done yet.

To start day two, the long jump gave some women another chance to shine. Williams moved back into the lead with a 6.20 meter jump. Bougard jumped 6.33 meters to move back up to third while Nwaba only managed 5.86 meters, dropping to fourth.

The javelin is another event that can make or break a heptathlete's score. For Bougard, it dropped her out of contention for a spot to Rio. But for Nwaba, her 49.19-meter throw was enough to put her back into the lead. Williams and Miller-Koch were both able to stay in the top three, with Day-Monroe remaining just outside.

The heptathlon medals all came down to the 800. Nwaba was comfortably in the lead, but there were three women fighting for the final two spots. The intrigue came from Miller-Koch and Day-Monroe both having 800 bests faster than 2:10 while Williams had only ever managed 2:17. Miller-Koch and Day-Monroe could both pass Williams in overall points if they beat Williams by enough in the 800.

Miller-Koch went to the lead at the break. “I didn't want to take the lead,” she said, “but that's kind of how the race ended up. Usually I like to stay behind and kick at the end, but I didn't want to break my stride to go behind so I just led and tried to hold on.” And hold on she did, winning the 800 and securing her place on the podium.

The battle then came down to Day-Monroe and Williams. Williams had a 5.5 second cushion. As long as she finished within that time of Day-Monroe, she would hold onto a top three position. If she finished outside that margin, it would be Day-Monroe who would go to Rio.

Williams stuck with the leaders through 600 meters, but after that the wheels started to fall off. She slipped back toward the rest of the field while the leaders, including Day-Monroe continued to press toward the finish line. Williams collapsed across the finish line, but all were left waiting to see if her effort had been enough to maintain her top three position. As the times flashed up on the video board, Day-Monroe had finished in 2:10.87 and Williams crossed in 2:15.31. Not only was it a two second personal record for Williams, but it was only about 4.5 seconds behind Day-Monroe. Williams would finish third in the overall standings.

The grueling two-day competition was over. Nwaba was all smiles as her competitors congratulated her. Her score of 6494 points easily outdistanced Miller-Koch who had 6423 points. Then came Williams with 6402 points, just 17 more than Day-Monroe.

For Nwaba, this confirms her spot at the top of the U.S. heptathlon standings as a two-time national champion. She leads a trio of strong women to Rio.

Be sure to watch DyeStat's interviews with Barbara Nwaba, Heather Miller-Koch, Kendell Williams and Sharon Day-Monroe.