| Ryanne Dupree recorded her second consecutive top-10 national finish this weekend (photo by Kirby Lee). |
EUGENE, Ore. ? Former UTSA All-American Ryanne Dupree finished 10th in the heptathlon on Saturday at the United States Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field.
The East Central High School product scored 5,697 points for her second straight top-10 national finish and she was just 92 points out of the top six finishers in what was a tight competition throughout. Dupree placed eighth with 5,582 points at the USA Outdoor Championships last June in Indianapolis, Ind.
Four years after finishing fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif., Hyleas Fountain won this year’s crown going away with 6,667 points, while Jacquelyn Johnson was the runner-up with 6,347. Diana Pickler (6,257) edged Virginia Johnson (6,247) by a mere 10 points to secure the third and final spot on Team USA for the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, China.
Dupree entered Saturday’s final three events in eighth place after scoring 3,535 points in the first four competitions on Friday. She leaped 19 feet in the long jump and measured 118-9 in the javelin to stay in eighth place entering the final event.
In the 800-meter finale that was televised live on NBC, Dupree clocked a 2:22.40 to finish fifth among the top eight in the standings. However, her time was 10th overall between the two heats, as a pair of competitors ? Ashley Wilhelm and Jackie Poulson ? posted sub-2:18 efforts in the first heat to pass her in the final standings.
Elizabeth Roehrig was fifth overall in the field of 18 with 5,819 points, while Fiona Asigbee was sixth with 5,789. Wilhelm (5,747), Poulson (5,741) and Bettie Wade (5,723) were just ahead of Dupree, while Kasey Hill was close behind in 11th with 5,687 points.