University of Hawai‘i’s Annett Wichmann posted numerous personal and seasonal bests and is in eighth place after the first day of the heptathlon at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Arkansas’ John McDonnell Field at Fayetteville, Ark.

After the first four events, Wichmann set a first-day UH record with 3,397 points, 10 points better than her total at the 2007 NCAA Championships and 95 points better than last year’s NCAA Championships, where she compiled a school record 5,670 points.
Southern California’s Nia Ali leads the 27-athlete field with 3,663 points, followed by Minnesota’s Liz Roehrig (3,651) and Michigan’s Bettie Wade (3,601).
Wichmann, from Jena, Germany, opened with a season-best time of 14.62 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, placing 23rd overall.
She rebounded by tying her personal best in one of her stronger events — the high jump — by clearing 5 foot 10 (1.78m) to tie for third. That put her in 10th place.
In the shot put, Wichmann blew away the field by putting the shot 45-2 1/4 (13.77m), her second best throw of the season, elevating her to fourth overall.
In her fourth and final discipline of the day, Wichmann ran the 200 in a season-best 26.28 seconds, for 24th place.
The heptathlon concludes Friday with the final three disciplines — long jump, javelin, and 800-meter run. Wichmann, whose strongest event is the javelin, finished sixth at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Also competing Friday will be Amber Kaufman and Emily Sheppard, both of whom advanced to the high jump final Wednesday. Kaufman, ranked second nationally heading into this meet, and Sheppard are looking to become the school’s first national champion since Gwen Loud won the long jump in 1984.