INDIANAPOLIS – Former University of Missouri standout Nick Adcock became the youngest ever to win the men’s heptathlon, and Bettie Wade won the women’s pentathlon in convincing fashion Sunday at the 2011 USA Indoor Combined Events Championships at the Harry S. Gladstein Fieldhouse on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington.
Nick Adcock
Adcock’s strong second-day performance and a clutch win in the final event (1,000 meters) were barely enough to give him the men’s national title. Adcock concluded the competition with 5,711 points, giving him a narrow 11-point margin of victory over runner-up Patrick Woods, who tallied 5,700 points. Chris Helwick finished third with 5,681 points and Eric Broadbent was fourth with 5,542 points. Defending champion Jake Arnold finished the competition with 4,736 points, after completing six of the seven events.During the competition, Broadbent won the 60m dash in 6.99 seconds, and the long jump with a best of 7.17m/23-6.25. Daniel Kinsey, who finished fifth overall with 5,320 points, won the shot put with a heave of 14.88m/48-10, and Jake Arnold finished first in the 60m hurdles in 8.11 seconds. Patrick Woods won the high jump with a clearance of 2.09m/6-10.25, with Chris Helwick capturing the pole vault (4.90m/16-0.75) and Nick Adcock securing the men’s title by winning the 1,000m in 2:42.90.
Up-and-coming heptathlete Bettie Wade continued the upward trajectory of her career by winning her first USA Indoor Combined Events title with her total of 4,439 points in the women’s pentathlon.
2008 Olympic Games heptathlon silver medalist and 2005 USA Combined Events champion Hyleas Fountain jumped out to a roaring start by winning the 60m hurdles in 8.15 seconds, and sharing the win in the high jump with Wade as both cleared 1.82m/5-11.50.
Abbie Stechschulte won the shot put with a toss of 13.64m/44-9, with Cynthia DeLoach capturing the long jump (6.46m/21-2.50) and Brianne Beemer the 800m in 2:14.47.
At the end of the day, Wade finished first in the competition with 4,439 points, with Stechschulte the runner-up with 4,337 points and DeLoach third with 4,289 points. Fountain did not start the final event of the competition, the 800m. Her total for four events was 3,796 points.
