June 8, 2012

USTFCCCA National Championships Central

DES MOINES, Iowa - Maryland senior Kiani Profit was second in the heptathlon 800-meter run Friday in 2:10.71 and finished ninth overall in the two-day competition at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Drake University.

Profit scored 5,625 points in the event to finish ninth overall in an outstanding field. Her total is expected to earn her second team All-America designation when the honors are announced by the U.S. Track & Field / Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday.

She was 108 points behind Wisconsin junior Dorcas Akinniyi for the eighth and last scoring position.

Oregon senior Brianne Theisen won her third NCAA title in the event with a meet record 6,440 points. Barbara Nwaba of UC Santa Barbara was second at 5,927, with Chelsea Carrier-Eades of West Virginia in third at 5,839.

Profit opened the day in 10th place overall, but finished 17th in the field in the long jump at 18-5.25. She was 13th in the javelin throw at 117 feet, 1 inch before winning her heat and finishing second overall in the 800 at 2:10.71 to earn 954 points. Profit's mark in the 800 was eighth on the all-time list outdoors at Maryland.

Theisen, from Humboldt, Sask., won both the long jump (20-7.25) and javelin (152-2) on her way to breaking her own meet record of 6,094 set in 2010. Profit finished second to Theisen that season with a mark of 5.682, which would still have placed ninth this season in a very competitive field.

The NCAA Outdoor Championships conclude on Saturday.

- Terps -