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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 5:00 p.m., Saturday, May 31, 2008

Kaufman sixth in long jump for UH women

Advertiser News Services

The University of Hawaii placed four more athletes in the top 10 of their respective events today on the final day of the NCAA West Regional Track and Field Championships in Northridge, Calif.

In all, five of UH's nine athletes posted top 10 performances during the two-day competition.

Today, a pair of Rainbow Wahine competed in the high jump with Amber Kaufman tying for sixth and Emily Sheppard placing ninth. Kaufman cleared the opening height of 5-7.25 (1.71m) and the next height of 5-9.25 (1.76m). Sheppard also cleared the opening height.

Senior Meghan Weaver, who was competing in her fourth NCAA Regional, placed sixth in the shot put with a heave of 51-2.25 (15.60m), just missing out on a top-five finish which would have earned her an automatic spot to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in two weeks. The sixth-place finish was Weaver's best at a regional.

In the javelin competition, Annett Wichmann just missed out on a top eight finish by placing ninth after a throw of 151-8 (46.24m).

The top eight finishers in each event scored team points. During the two-day meet, three Rainbow Wahine totaled 7.5 points which resulted in an 18th-place finish (out of 19 teams) for UH.

On Friday, the Rainbow Wahine picked up two team points via Patricia Gauthier's school-record pole vault of 13-3.75 (4.06m). A school record nine UH athletes participated at this year's regionals.

Two weeks ago, Kaufman set a new UH record of 6-0.5 (1.84m) and captured gold at the Western Athletic Conference Championship. The mark ranks third nationally and already qualifies her for the U.S. Olympic Trials and likely a spot at the NCAA Championships. Multi-event athlete Wichmann already qualified for the Championships in the heptathlon. The NCAA Championships is scheduled for June 11 to 14 in Des Moines, Iowa.