3-time Olympian Pat Daniels Connolly (Capuchino High/College of San Mateo) awarded prizes to the initial women’s decathlon national champions at College of San Mateo on Sunday afternoon, from left third place Amy Backel, gold medalist Jordan Gray, Connolly, and runner-up AnnaLee McGregor. Fred Baer Photo
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 23, 3019 Contact: Fred Baer [email protected]
No. 3 all-time world:
JORDAN GRAY SETS AMERICAN RECORD WINNING INITIAL WOMEN’S DECATHLON NATL’S
SAN MATEO — Jordan Gray blew away the American record by a 344-point margin to win the first standalone Women’s Decathlon National Championship Sunday at College of San Mateo.
The recent graduate of Kennesaw State University (Ga.) totaled 7,921 points to become the third highest performer in world history. It was the highest score in 14 years, since Austra Skujyte of Lithuania set the world record, 8,358, at Columbia, Mo. In 2005. The former American record of 7,577 was set by Tiffany Lott-Hogan in 2000.
“This event has been my target for a couple of years, since my coach had me pole vault,” said Gray. “I just wanted to push myself to the same extent as the guys, who do the decathlon. And it’s so much fun to train with the (men) decathletes.”
Although women are still limited to the 7-event heptathlon for world and Olympic competition, the decathlon has been an official IAAF world event for 15 years. Women have contested the 10-events for more than two decades, but not on a regular or national basis in the USA. The Women’s Decathlon Association, headed by Becca Peter, organized the current competition — with sponsorship from Pole Vault Power and the Somatica Institute. It was conducted under USATF rules with USATF Pacific Association officials, along with formal drug testing protocol for the record breaker.
Gray won nominal first place prize money of $575 in her first decathlon and first professional competition since her All-America placing two weeks ago in the heptathlon at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas. The runner-up award ($300) went to AnnaLee McGregor of San Francisco with 6,330 points, followed by third place ($200) for Amy Backel of Denver at 6,202. Hanna McPhee, also of San Francisco, was fourth with 5,513 points.
Gray led throughout the 10-events, opening with an American decathlon record of 12.16 seconds in the 100 meters on the fast CSM Mondo track, just .01 off the world record of 12.15 set by Mona Steigauf of Germany in 1997.
Gray long jumped 20 feet, 3 1/2 inches in the second event, equaling the world decathlon record set in 2004 by Marie Collonville of France. That set the 10-event record stage. The former American bests were by Lott-Hogan, 12.31 in the 100, and 18-11 1/4 in the long jump – during her record run in 2000. After five events, Gray was ahead of record pace by 64 points, concluding the first day with a personal best 57.41 in the 400 meters.
Gray made a huge record move in the pole vault on day two, clearing a personal best 12 feet, 2 inches to score 849 points for an 8-event total of 6,595. That put her 287 points ahead of American record pace with just two events remaining. Needing just 983 points in those two disciplines to better the mark, Gray cruised with a 130-8 javelin throw for 664 points and a concluding 5:26.14 time in her first ever 1,500 meter race for 662 points.
–The 23-year-old Georgia native will revert to the heptathlon next month — for the USATF National Championships, July 27-28, at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. That is the selection meet for the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Qatar.
–Also present at this weekend’s competition — and contributing as a sponsor — was 3-time Olympian Pat Daniels Connolly (1960-68) out of Capuchino High School (San Bruno) and College of San Mateo, who pioneered women’s multi-sport international competition in the 5-event pentathlon at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and was the 1967 Pan American Games gold medalist. She was joined by 4-time Olympic javelin thrower Karin Smith.
–This was the second official USATF American Record set at CSM’s spectacular facility. Kim Kreiner had a a 203-10 javelin throw mark in 2006.
Visit the Women’ s Decathlon Website for photos and more info.
–Up next: The CSM track is serving as the official practice facility for Sunday’s upcoming Prefontaine Classic at Stanford, largest international meet in the USA.
Women’s Decathlon All-Time List:
8358, Austra Skujyte, Lithuania, 2005.
8250, Marie Collonville, France, 2004.
7921, Jordon Gary, USA, 2019.
7885, Mona Steigauf, Germany, 1997.
7798, Irna Naumenko, Kazakhstan, 2004.
7742, Anna Snetkova, Russia, 2003 (nwi)
7577, Tiffany Lott-Hogan, USA, 2000
7470, Julie Mezerette, France, 2001 (nwi)
7358, Julie Martin, France, 2004
nwi – indicates wind information missing for formal ranking.
Women’s National Decathlon Championships, June 22-23, 2019
At College of San Mateo, San Mateo, Calif.
Sponsored by the Somatica Institute and Pole Vault Power
Decathlon Final Scores:
1, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA, 7921.
2, AnnaLee McGregor, San Francisco, CA, 6330.
3, Amy Backel, Denver, CO, 6202.
4, Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 5513.
5, Brysun Stately, Citrus Heights, CA, 5499.
6, Lauren Kuntz, Pittsburg, PA, 5293.
7, Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 4830.
8, Floriane Kameni, Bellevue, WA, 4512.
9, Jade Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 3815.
10, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, 3500.
Decathlon: #1 Women 100 Meter Dash Decathlon Finals
1, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA, 12.16, w:0.5. 2, Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA,
12.71, w:0.5. 3, Brysun Stately, Citrus Heights, CA, 12.78, w:0.5. 4, AnnaLee
McGregor, San Francisco, CA, 13.18, w:0.5. 5, Floriane Kameni, Bellevue, WA,
13.20, w:0.5. 6, Lauren Kuntz, Pittsburg, PA, 13.63, w:0.5. 7, Karin Fisher,
Menlo Park, CA, 13.79, w:1.0. 8, Jade Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 13.95,
w:1.0. 9, Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 14.02, w:1.0. 10, Amy Backel, Denver, CO,
14.79, w:1.0. –, Ashtin Zamzow, Unattached, DNF, w:1.0.
Decathlon: #2 Women Long Jump Decathlon
1, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA, 6.18m, w:-0.4. 2, AnnaLee McGregor, San
Francisco, CA, 5.11m, w:-0.3. 3, Floriane Kameni, Bellevue, WA, 5.06m, w:0.4.
4, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, 4.83m, w:-1.0. 5, Amy Backel, Denver, CO,
4.71m, w:-1.9. 5, Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 4.71m, w:-1.4. 7, Brysun Stately,
Citrus Heights, CA, 4.65m, w:-2.1. 8, Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 4.34m,
w:-1.2. 9, Lauren Kuntz, Pittsburg, PA, 4.27m, w:-1.3. 10, Jade
Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 3.99m, w:-2.1. –, Ashtin Zamzow, Unattached, FOUL.
Decathlon: #3 Women Shot Put Decathlon
1, Amy Backel, Denver, CO, 13.82m. 2, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA, 12.86m. 3,
Ashtin Zamzow, Unattached, 11.67m. 4, AnnaLee McGregor, San Francisco, CA,
10.04m. 5, Brysun Stately, Citrus Heights, CA, 9.84m. 6, Floriane Kameni,
Bellevue, WA, 9.64m. 7, Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 9.38m. 8, Jade
Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 9.33m. 9, Lauren Kuntz, Pittsburg, PA, 7.82m. 10,
Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 7.67m. 11, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, 7.22m.
Decathlon: #4 Women High Jump Decathlon
1, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA, 1.65m. 2, Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 1.62m. 3, AnnaLee McGregor, San Francisco, CA, 1.59m.
4, Amy Backel, Denver, CO, 1.56m. 5, Floriane Kameni, Bellevue, WA, 1.47m. 6, Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 1.44m.
7, Lauren Kuntz, Pittsburg, PA, 1.41m. 8, Brysun Stately, Citrus Heights, CA, 1.35m. 9, Jade Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 1.23m.
–, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, NH.
Decathlon: #5 Women 400 Meter Dash Decathlon
1, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA, 57.41. 2, AnnaLee McGregor, San Francisco, CA,
59.10. 3, Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 59.36. 4, Lauren Kuntz, Pittsburg,
PA, 1:02.24. 5, Brysun Stately, Citrus Heights, CA, 1:03.14. 6, Amy Backel,
Denver, CO, 1:04.21. 7, Floriane Kameni, Bellevue, WA, 1:04.90. 8, Jade
Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 1:06.28. 9, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, 1:11.09. 10, Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 1:11.13.
Decathlon: #6 Women 100 Meter Hurdles Decathlon
1, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA, 14.10, w:1.1. 2, AnnaLee McGregor, San Francisco,
CA, 15.49, w:1.1. 3, Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 16.02, w:1.1. 4, Amy
Backel, Denver, CO, 16.42, w:1.0. 5, Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 16.74, w:1.1. 6,
Lauren Kuntz, Pittsburg, PA, 16.86, w:1.1. 7, Brysun Stately, Citrus Heights,
CA, 17.51, w:1.0. 8, Jade Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 17.97, w:1.0. 9,
Floriane Kameni, Bellevue, WA, 19.27, w:1.0. 10, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, 19.97, w:1.0.
Decathlon: #7 Women Discus Throw Decathlon
1, Amy Backel, Denver, CO, 46.20m. 2, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA, 39.09m. 3,
Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 31.93m. 4, Jade Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 31.43m.
5, Brysun Stately, Citrus Heights, CA, 27.57m. 6, Floriane Kameni, Bellevue,
WA, 25.59m. 7, AnnaLee McGregor, San Francisco, CA, 22.94m. 8, Lauren Kuntz,
Pittsburg, PA, 22.62m. 9, Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 17.89m. 10, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, 17.38m.
Decathlon: #8 Women Pole Vault Decathlon
1, Brysun Stately, Citrus Heights, CA, 3.91m. 2, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA,
3.71m. 3, Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 3.51m. 3, Lauren Kuntz, Pittsburg,
PA, 3.51m. 5, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, 3.41m. 6, AnnaLee McGregor, San
Francisco, CA, 3.31m. 7, Amy Backel, Denver, CO, 3.21m. 8, Floriane Kameni,
Bellevue, WA, 2.31m. 9, Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 2.01m. –, Jade Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, NH.
Decathlon: #9 Women Javelin Throw Decathlon
1, Jordan Gray, Atlanta, GA, 39.83m. 2, Amy Backel, Denver, CO, 35.26m. 3,
Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 32.81m. 4, Brysun Stately, Citrus Heights, CA,
28.28m. 5, AnnaLee McGregor, San Francisco, CA, 26.24m. 6, Lauren Kuntz,
Pittsburg, PA, 22.65m. 7, Jade Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 20.80m. 8, Hanna
McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 17.60m. 9, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, 17.40m. 10, Floriane Kameni, Bellevue, WA, 15.11m.
Decathlon: #10 Women 1500 Meter Run Decathlon
1, AnnaLee McGregor, San Francisco, CA, 5:02.21. 2, Lauren Kuntz, Pittsburg,
PA, 5:20.64. 3, Hanna McPhee, San Francisco, CA, 5:22.53. 4, Jordan Gray,
Atlanta, GA, 5:26.14. 5, Amy Backel, Denver, CO, 5:43.79. 6, Brysun Stately,
Citrus Heights, CA, 6:30.44. 7, Floriane Kameni, Bellevue, WA, 6:31.26. 8,
Jade Permenter-Barnes, Chico, CA, 6:33.66. 9, Lauren Young, Chico, CA, 6:37.59. 10, Karin Fisher, Menlo Park, CA, 7:11.31.
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