University of Hawai'i senior Annett Wichmann won her third consecutive Western Athletic Conference pentathlon title yesterday at the Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho.

Rainbow Wahine teammate Emily Sheppard placed fourth.

Wichmann, who is from Jena, Germany, completed the five-discipline event with 4,034 points, just 16 shy of automatic qualification into the NCAA Indoor Championships. Her mark ranks seventh nationally with the top 16 automatic and provisional qualifiers earning spots to the national meet.

Last year, Wichmann earned All-America honors by finishing fourth at the NCAA Indoors and sixth in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoors.

Sheppard posted a personal best of 3,576 points, 135 better than her previous best. She set personal bests in three events, including a school pentathlon event record in the high jump of 5 feet, 9 3/4 inches.

After the first day of competition, Hawai'i and Idaho are tied for the lead in the team standings with 15 points.

Wichmann opened the competition with a second-place showing in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.98 seconds. Sheppard finished 10th with a personal best 9.52 seconds.

In the high jump, Wichmann placed second behind Sheppard after clearing 5-7 1/4. Wichmann posted the day's best throw in the shot put with a 46-4, while Sheppard took ninth at 32-5 3/4.

Wichmann won the long jump with a mark of 18-1 and Sheppard placed third at 17-11 1/2. With more than a 300-point cushion heading into the final event, Wichmann cruised to third in the 800 meters with 2:25.65. Sheppard was eighth with a personal-best 2:36.23.

The WAC Championships continue today and tomorrow.