Results

DES MOINES, Iowa - UNO's Sami Spenner set two more personal bests on her way to an impressive fourth-place finish in the heptathlon at the prestigious Drake Relays.

Spenner, competing unattached because she is redshirting the outdoor season, finished with a career-best 5,593 points making her the top-finishing American-born athlete in the event.  She finished just 28 points behind Makeba Alcide, the defending SEC champion in the heptathlon.

Spenner's performance is remarkable in just her second full year competing in the event.  She missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials by just seven points.

Spenner won the first event of the day, the long jump, with a career-best leap of 19-06 1/4, five inches ahead of the next competitor and more than three inches beyond her previous PR.  The mark was posted on her third and final jump of the day.

She took fourth in the javelin with a toss of 112-09, the only mark in the competition that wasn't a personal best.  She earned fourth in spite of fouling on her other two attempts.

Spenner finished the competition with a third in the 800 meters with a career-best time of 2:16, 61, shaving nearly six seconds off her previous best.

The Mavericks return to action as a team on Friday at the Kip Janvrin Open at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.  The Mavs will return to competition at the final day of action at the Drake Relays on Saturday, April 28, their final meet of the season.