June 9, 2010

EUGENE, Ore. - Kiani Profit of Maryland sprinted from ninth place to third with her performance in the 200-meter dash Wednesday in the final event of the opening day of the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Nationals being hosted by the University of Oregon.

Profit finished the first four events of the seven-event competition with 3,383 points. Senior Chealsea Taylor of Alabama leads the competition with 3,619 points after winning the heptathlon high jump at 6-1.50.

Oregon junior Brianne Theisen, who bested Profit to win the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Nationals, was second on her home track Wednesday with 3,615 points. She won the 100-meter hurdles in the first event of the day at 13.39 seconds.

A top-eight finish would earn Profit her second All-America designation of the year, as she finished second in the pentathlon in March.

The Terrapin junior from Pasadena, Calif., went 24.47 in the 200 meters, earning 936 points. It was a fraction off her previous season-best and was the fifth-best mark of the day in the 200. She moved up six places in the competition with her time.

She began the day in third place after running a career-best 13.78 in the 100-meter hurdles. Her time improved her third-best mark in school history at Maryland in that event.

Profit followed with a mark of 5-5.25 in the high jump (T12th in the field) and a season-best 37-10.75 (11th) in the shot put, slipping to ninth place in the overall standings after three events.

Profit, who broke a 26-year-old school record with a mark of 5,686 at the ACC Championships in mid-April, competes in two of her strongest events on Thursday. The second day of competition opens at 4:45 EDT with the long jump, followed by the javelin throw and wraps up with the 800-meter run.

Live results from the NCAA Outdoor Nationals are available at www.flashresults.com. A live video feed is available at www.ncaa.com.

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