April 24, 2008

Quotes |  Drake Relays Photo Gallery 

DES MOINES, Iowa - University of Northern Iowa junior Mat Clark claimed a runner-up finish in the decathlon at the Drake Relays on Thursday, finishing just ahead of teammate Raven Cepeda as the pair each posted automatic qualifying marks for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

 

Clark set personal-best marks in eight of the 10 events contested on his way to a career-best score of 7,691 points to claim the runner-up spot. The Ames, Iowa, native finished behind only Joe Detmer, who claimed the decathlon title with a score of 7,712. Cepeda, the defending Drake Relays decathlon champion, racked up 7,687 points to earn a third-place finish.

 

Both Clark and Cepeda surpassed the total of 7,500 points required for automatic qualification for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, while Clark's score also met the "B" qualifying standard for the upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials.

 

"I'm really pleased with how I performed today, but most important was getting the automatic qualifying mark for the national meet," said Clark, who posted the second-highest decathlon score in UNI history.

 

Cepeda owned a 147-point lead over Detmer, who also trains with UNI associate head coach Travis Geopfert, heading into the final event, the 1,500-meter run. Detmer's time of 4:14.13 was more than enough to overtake Cepeda, who clocked in at 4:40.03. Clark finished on Detmer's heels with a time of 4:14.38 that allowed him to leapfrog Cepeda for the runner-up spot.

 

Cepeda started the day with personal-best marks in each of the first two events, moving to second in the overall standings in the process. He posted the top time in the 110-meter hurdles, clocking in at 14.1 seconds, and then posted a throw of 141 feet, 6 inches that was the second-best mark in the discus.

 

The senior jumped into the overall lead with his performance in the event considered to be his best, the pole vault. Cepeda cleared 15 feet, 9 inches on his first attempt and then made a successful attempt at 16-0 3/4 to add 880 points to his total.

 

The performance, which made Cepeda the only competitor to go higher than 16 feet, gave him a seven-point edge in the standings over Derek Gearman. Through eight events, Cepeda owned a score of 6,352 points.

 

Clark, who entered the day in second place in the decathlon standings, opened with a 15,4-second clocking in the 110 hurdles and then posted a throw of 128-1 that matched his career-best mark in the discus. He followed with a clearance at 14-1 1/4 in the pole vault and stood fourth after eight events.

 

Cepeda extended his lead to 147 points over Detmer, who moved into second place with a throw of 177-6, with his effort of 178-9 in the javelin. Meanwhile, a personal-best throw of 195-11 moved Clark into third place in the standings with just one event remaining.

 

"It was definitely a turning point in the competition for me," Clark said of the javelin. "I was really upset with my pole vault, so I got really aggressive with my approach, got after it and had a good mark."

 

 

HAWLEY SETS SCHOOL RECORD IN WOMEN'S 5K

Senior Traci Hawley capped off Thursday's competition for the Panthers with a school-record run in the women's 5,000 meters, a performance good enough for a fifth-place finish.

 

Hawley cut nearly 13 seconds off her previous personal-best time to finish in 16:54.30. That cut almost 12 seconds off the previous standard of 17:06.78 set by Emily Shoopman in 2003. The performance also narrowly missed the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 16:52.

 

"I ran a good race," said Hawley, who also set UNI's indoor 5,000 meter record earlier this season. "I ran my hardest and I couldn't ask for anything more, but I know it's going to run through my head that I missed the qualifying mark by two seconds."

 

Iowa State's Lisa Koll, who owns the American collegiate record in the 10,000 meters, claimed the race in 15:59.29.

 

The Panthers continue competition in the Drake Relays on Friday, beginning with the women's 4x100 relay preliminaries at 9:32 a.m.