Hawai'i's Annett Wichmann successfully defended her pentathlon title at the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships yesterday at the Idaho Sports Center in Nampa.

Wichmann led a Rainbow Wahine assault in the multi-events, with senior Mallory Gilbert getting second with a personal-best 3,739 points, and junior Emily Sheppard taking seventh. Wichmann scored 3,936 points - 103 off her personal best in the five-event pentathlon.

The 'Bows earned 20 points and lead Idaho by two going into today's running and field events. The meet, which has eight women's teams, ends tomorrow. Hawai'i, in its fourth year with a full team, has never finished better than sixth.

This year, coach Carmyn James believes UH will challenge for the title and could double last year's total of 53.5 points. Five Rainbow Wahine are ranked first in the WAC in their events.

"We're going to have a pump-up team meeting tonight and make sure everyone is clear about what we are capable of doing," James said. "We can't be distracted by the possibility of winning. We're going to talk about staying focused on your own event. If they do that, we can win."

Wichmann, a junior from Germany, won the shot put (43 feet, 1/2 inch) and finished fifth or better in every other event yesterday. She was second as a freshman and has dominated multi-events since, winning the last two pentathlons during indoor season and last two heptathlons in outdoor season. She was 11th in NCAA pentathlon last year, and ninth in NCAA heptathlon. She will also compete in the long jump, high jump and shot put this weekend.

Gilbert, who was sixth in last year's pentathlon, won the event's high jump yesterday with a school-record 5 feet, 8 3/4 inches. She also had personal bests in the hurdles, shot and 800 — by 12 seconds.

Gilbert and Sheppard go into tomorrow's high jump as favorites. Rainbows Thalia Amanakis and Chantelle Wilder have the WAC's best times in the 400 and 5,000 meters, respectively. Amanakis is also in the hurdles and 800, and Wilder in the 3,000 meters.

The Rainbow Wahine cross country team was recently selected by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as an all-academic team with a cumulative grade point average of 3.25. In all, 158 Division I women's programs received the USTFCCCA honor.