High-Jumper Sharon Day wins at Americas Combined Events Cup in Cuba
2008 Team USA Olympic women's high jumper Sharon
Day posted a landmark personal best performance in winning the
heptathlon over the weekend at the inaugural America's Combined Events
Cup at the National Stadium in Havana, Cuba.
The America's Combined Events Cup brings together athletes
from Member Federations in Consudatle (South America) and NACAC (North
America, Central America and Caribbean), in a competition designed to
promote combined events in the region. The event was held under the
supervision of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Track
and Field Association (NACAC) and the Cuban Track and Field Federation
(FCA). A total of 18 men and 16 women from eight countries competed in
the event.
Still a novice on the national stage in the heptathlon,
Day, who won the Big West Conference heptathlon title last year with a
then personal best score of 5,642 points, broke through the 6,000-point
barrier for the first time in her career with her winning total of
6,063 points. Her performance is the best this year by an American.
Cuban Yariadmis Arguelles finished as the runner-up with5,982 points, with Day's American teammate and 2005 NCAA champion Lela
Nelson third with 5,817 points, and 2008 Olympic Trials seventh-place
finisher Ashley Wilhelm finishing sixth with 5,153 points.
In winning his first international title since capturing
the World Youth Championships decathlon gold medal in 2005, 20-year old
Cuban Yordanis Garcia improved his personal best by more than 100
points with his winning score of 8,496 points, which is the third best
performance in the world this year. Lifetime best performances in the
shot put (16.50 meters/54 feet 1.75 inches) and high jump (2.10m/6 feet
10.75) propelled Garcia, who placed eighth at the 2007 World Outdoor
Championships, to the victory.
2004 Olympian Paul Terek led
U.S. participants in finishing the 10-event challenge with 7,430
points. 2006 USA Outdoor Championships fourth-place finisher Chris
Boyles finished seventh with 7,131 points.
USA
Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and
field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States.
USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the
most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and
junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult
runners in the United States.
