Arnold, Pickler win USA Indoor Combined Events titles
By Tom Surber, USATF
Posted Thursday, 13 March, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS - Two-time NCAA decathlon champion Jake Arnold and 2007 USA heptathlon runner-up Diana Pickler captured the respective men's and women's national titles Sunday at the 2008 USA Indoor Combined Events Championships at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Arnold, who placed third in the decathlon at the 2006 and 2007 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships, was the most consistent performer throughout the two-day men's heptathlon competition. Arnold either posted the best mark, or equaled the best performance by other competitors, in four of the seven events.
Arnold held the lead after Day 1 of the competition with 3,220 points, and tallied 5,851 points for the win. 2001 champion Stephen Moore was the runner-up, trailing the winner by 57 points. 2007 runner-up Chris Boyles was third with 5,688 points, with Joe Detmer fourth with 5,603 points. 2004 Olympian Paul Terek dropped out of the competition at the end of the first day.
The women's pentathlon competition was dominated by the Pickler twins, Diana and Julie. Diana, who ended the 2007 season ranked #1 nationally in the heptathlon by Track & Field News, got off to a great start in winning the first two events, the 60m hurdles and high jump, and never looked back in winning the event with 4,378 points. Sister Julie, who was the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships heptathlon runner-up, posted the highest scores in the last two events (the long jump and 800 meters) but fell short of Diana's winning total by 82 points. Ryanne Dupree was third with 4,124 points, with Abbie Stechschulte placing fourth with 4,088 points.
For more information on the 2008 USA Indoor Combined Events Championships at Chapel Hill, including the complete results, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/USAIndoorCEChampionships/
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