Only one meet into the Indoor Track season, record mayhem has broken loose in Manoa. The Rainbow Wahine set 17 personal bests in Seattle last weekend, topped by Annett Wichmann's pentathlon performance.

"Results weren't so much a surprise," Hawai'i coach Carmyn James said. "It was just meeting expectations so early on."

The Washington Invitational featured several Pac-10 teams, including top-ranked Stanford, 16th-ranked Oregon and 18th-ranked Washington, along with Baylor, Minnesota and Texas Tech. The 'Bows rose to the occasion with surprising ease. Wichmann, the WAC Athlete of the Week, soared farthest, highest and fastest.

The junior from Germany won the pentathlon with 4,039 points — shattering her school record and adding nearly 100 points to the total that earned her silver at last year's WAC Indoor Championship. She is ranked fourth nationally, one of five women with more than 4,000 points.

The "Germanator" won the WAC heptathlon here last May, and became the second Rainbow Wahine to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championship, where she finished 17th. By surpassing the provisional qualifying total, and coming up just 11 points short of automatic NCAA qualification, she will probably be the first 'Bow at the NCAA Indoors, in Arkansas in five weeks.

"I would expect that performance a little closer to the WAC Championship," James said. "The fact that she is so on and, when we watched the tape, there is still room for improvement. That's not a negative thing, it's actually a positive thing because with a little more tweaking she can get oodles more points."

"I was hoping for it," Wichmann said, "but I felt I had to be realistic. I cannot expect something like this so early. For the first meet, it was a surprise."

Wichmann's goal this year is a top-10 NCAA finish. She spent the summer fine-tuning her javelin skills in Germany for the heptathlon. And, unlike last year, she stayed healthy in the fall. In Seattle she tied personal bests in the shot put (45 feet, 7 3/4 inches) and high jump (5-7 3/4).

Wichmann was in fast, and strong, company. She believes the "bar has been raised," for UH.

Senior Novelle Murray, the reigning WAC Indoor champ in weight toss, took second in Seattle with 58-6. She was disappointed, after throwing the provisional standard of 19 meters (62 feet-plus) in practice.

Sophomore Thalia Amanakis streaked to personal bests in the 60-meter hurdles and 400. Senior Chantelle Laan shaved three seconds off her best 3,000-meter time. Meghan Weaver and Wichmann were top 10 in shot put.

Senior Mallory Gilbert's breakthrough in pentathlon might have been the most eye-opening. Her ninth-place total of 3,385 points was 281 better than ever before. "That was a huge personal best," said James, who thinks Gilbert can get to the provisional NCAA point total (3,700).

The former cheerleader was fifth in heptathlon at last year's WAC Outdoor Championship, setting personal records in the high jump, long jump, shot put and javelin. She also earned bronze in the high jump, with then-freshman teammate Emily Sheppard grabbing WAC gold.

Freshman Amber Kaufman, who started the final half of the volleyball season for the Rainbow Wahine, has leaped into the mix this semester, leading James to dream of a WAC high-jump sweep. The three, joined by Wichmann at early-morning jump practices, are thriving.

Gilbert upped her personal best to 5 feet, 7 3/4 inches last week. Sheppard jumped an inch higher at the WAC Indoors and Outdoors last year. Kaufman cleared 5-10 two years ago — then the sixth-best high school jump in the country and a height she and Sheppard have surpassed in practice.

Days into her collegiate track career, Kaufman has caught the imagination of her team, but is not so sure of herself.

"I don't practice as well as they do, so I won't compete as well," said Kaufman, who is struggling to find an effective formula for offseason volleyball conditioning and elite jumping. "Maybe by the end of the year I'll be better so we can go 1-2-3."

She is just as self-deprecating when she describes her style: "Mallory has form, Emily has a little form and I have no form," Kaufman says with a shrug.

James and her teammates are not as critical. The coach is focusing on Kaufman's final two steps, which are exceptionally explosive. Sheppard's takeoff is also dynamic, while Gilbert's gymnastic background makes her strength pure technique.

"Carmyn always has a lot to say when we jump," Kaufman says, looking at Sheppard. "When Mallory jumps, she doesn't say anything."

Gilbert, who insists she has "no takeoff," was not surprised by the flood of personal bests in Seattle as much as she was impressed by the depth of success.

"I was impressed that the whole team did so well," she said. "We're stronger and our attitudes are in a better place."

And they have Wichmann as the "ultimate" role model, according to Sheppard. When she clears a height, the other three jumpers are absolutely convinced they can do it.

"They definitely have the physical and technical ability to go 1-2-3," James said. "And, most importantly, is just the level of confidence. They are very supportive of each other. ... With Amber coming in the group late, she's at a pretty high level and that encourages them to want to continue to do well.

"It's not so much competition, but it seems the quality of the high-jump performances in practice ... they thrive on each other."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.