KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

CEDAR FALLS, IOWA – Indiana State's Robert Webb leads the Heptathlon competition of the Jack Jennett Invite while Kelly Steffen finished second in the Pentathlon as the first day of competition came to a close.

“This was a great way for us to work on things in a competitive setting,” Angela Martin, Indiana State women's track & field coach said. There were lots of ups and downs but also good things to look forward too.

“Bobby had a great day one with two PRs,” Martin said. “We will see what tomorrow brings. Brett had a solid day one and is a good competitor. As a freshman, this is a great learning experience or him.”

Sami Spencer of Nebraska Omaha won the Pentathlon with 4104 points. Steffen was second with 3,549 points which is just shy of her personal best of 3,558 points set in 2011. Carmelia Stewart competed in her first pentathlon and came away with a solid fourth place finish by scoring 3,479 points. Rachael Johnson was sixth with 3,074 points.

Webb stands in first place for the heptathlon with four events completed and three more to be contested on Saturday. The Sycamore has 2,953 points to lead the field with teammate Brett Wehmiller currently seventh at 2,642 points.

Points in the multi-events are awarded based on the competitors time in running events and distance in field events.

The 60 meter hurdles opened the Pentathlon competition with Stewart finishing in 8.84 second, Steffen in 9.07 and Johnson was timed in 9.92. Johnson and Stewart both cleared 5-foot-3-inches (1.60 meters) in the high jump with Steffen going out at 5-foot-1.25-inches (1.57 meters).

Johnson had a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 31-feet-11.75-inches (9.73 meters) with Steffen going 29-feet-10.25-inches (9.10 meters) and Stewart 29-feet-2.5-inches (8.90 meters). The final field event was the long jump where Steffen led the way by posting a personal best 18-feet-6-inches (5.64 meters), Stewart clearing 17-feet-10.25-inches (5.44 meters), and Johnson 15-feet-3.25-inches (4.25 meters).

The final event was the 800 meter run with Steffen close to a personal best with a finish in 2:26.21 while Stewart was timed in 2:32.79 and Johnson finished in 2:34.90.

The 60 meter dash opened the Heptathlon with Wehmiller posting a time of 7.16 seconds and Webb a personal best 7.17 seconds. Webb cleared 22-feet-1.75-inches (6.75 meters) in the long jump with Wehmiller going 20-feet-8-inches (6.30 meters).

In the final two events for the day, Webb posted his second personal best of the day as he had a throw of 38-feet (11.58 meters) in the shot put. Wehmiller went 32-feet-4.25-inches (9.86 meters). The high jump closed out the day's competition with Webb clearing 6-feet-6.25-inches (1.99 meters) and Wehmiller clearing 6-feet-1.5-inches (1.87 meters).

The 60 meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1,000 meter run will close out the Heptathlon starting at noon (ET) Saturday.

Several other Sycamores will also be competing in individual events Saturday. Nikija Pujate will compete in the women's triple jump at 2:30 p.m. (ET) with Richelle Kimble, Lauren Rice, Kimyanna Rudolph, Alyssa Markiewicz, and Hannah McKnight going in the women's pole vault starting at 3 p.m. (ET). Connor Curley, Drew LaMaster, and Wes Schenck will compete in the men's pole vault which beings after the women's pole vault.