Arizona track and field officially kicks off the championship season with the Pac-12 Multi Championships this weekend in Los Angeles at UCLA.
Harrison Ivie and Pau Tonnesen will compete in the decathlon, which features the 100-meter race, long jump, shot put, high jump and the 400-meter race on the first day; the 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and the 1500-meter race will be on the second day.
The last decathlon they competed in was during the Jim Click Shootout in April, where Tonnesen scored 7783 and Ivie scored 7198. At the time, Tonnesen’s score was the best collegiate score in the country.
Ivie said he feels confident going into the weekend and hopes to tally a score of 7400. He performed well in the Duel in the Desert against ASU, setting an outdoor personal record in the pole vault.
“The personal record in the pole vault has boosted my confidence going into the Pac-12 Championships,” Ivie said.
He has worked on his throws and the 1500-meter race, areas he hopes to improve on from the Jim Click Shootout. Ivie has had a lot of time to rest this week, something he thinks will help him perform better.
“I’m going to be able to perform a lot better resting,” Ivie said.
Tiana Bonds and Alyssa Thompson will compete in the heptathlon, which features the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and the 200-meter race on the first day. The long jump, javelin throw and the 800-meter race will be on the second day.
In the Jim Click Shootout, Bonds totaled a 5242 score, and Thompson scored 5320.
Thompson said she has good meets leading up to this point, setting a personal best record in the javelin last weekend. She said she’s peaking at the perfect time.
She said it will be important for her to do well in the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump so she gets off to a solid start.
Thompson said she wants to take momentum from the first two events into the high jump competition and throughout the rest of the meet.
In order to qualify for nationals, Thompson will have to improve her best heptathlon score by about 100 points, something she said she hopes she can do over the weekend.
The four athletes will head for Los Angeles at the end of the week and will compete in the multi events on Saturday and Sunday. The following weekend will be the individual Pac-12 Championships, which will take place at UCLA as well.
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