June 7, 2010
EUGENE, Ore. -
Kiani Profit will represent the University of Maryland at this week's NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships to be held at fabled Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
Profit, a junior from Pasadena, Calif., will participate in the heptathlon at the national championships, a seven-event competition that takes place on Wednesday and Thursday.
"Kiani has been working very hard to prepare for these two days of competition," said Maryland head coach Andrew Valmon. "I think she's looking forward to representing Maryland and competing against some of the best student-athletes in the world."
The 100-meter hurdles opens the competition at 4 p.m. EST Wednesday, with the student-athletes participating in the high jump, shot put and 200 meters on the opening day. The second day of the heptathlon features the long jump, beginning at 4:45 EST, with the javelin and 800 meters finishing the event.
Profit is seeded fourth in the 24-athlete field after posting a Maryland school-record 5,686 points at this year's Atlantic Coast Conference Championships. Profit's mark broke a Terrapin record that had stood since 1984 and featured performances in three events that ranked among the top 10 in school history in those disciplines.
She was topped at the ACC Outdoor by Liane Weber of Clemson, who scored 5,928 to post the second-best mark of the season by a collegian. Oregon's Brianne Theisen, who beat Profit to win the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Nationals last March, holds the best heptathlon mark of this outdoor season at 5,942 points.
Profit's second-place finish in the pentathlon indoors this year earned her both All-America status (given to the top eight at nationals) and the Maryland school record in that event. Her second-place finish earned eight team points for the Terrapins, giving them a tie for 28th as a team at the NCAA Indoor.
Late last week, Profit was named the USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year.
A live webcast from the NCAA Outdoor Nationals will be available at NCAA.com on Wednesday and Thursday beginning at 4 p.m. and 1 p.m. EST, respectively. Live results of the NCAA Nationals will be available at www.flashresults.com.
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