NCAA Track : Sedwick Has Big First Day in Heptathlon

After UCLA’s Tonya Sedwick finished the first day of the heptathlon in third place Wednesday in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. track and field meet, Coach Bob Kersee had a gleam in his eye.

“A girl named Jackie Joyner finished third in her first national meet in 1981,” Kersee observed.

Jackie Joyner is now Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder in the heptathlon.

Sedwick, a sophomore from Jeffersonville, Ind., who was competing in only her third heptathlon, had 3,485 points--203 points ahead of her best first-day performance--at the Brigham Young University track stadium.

She trailed Houston’s Jolanda Jones, who has 3,602 points, and Louisiana State’s Cheryl Wilson with 3,552. Jones won the NCAA heptathlon in 1986 and 1987.

“If she has a good long jump tomorrow (today), she could push the leaders,” Kersee said of Sedwick.

The long jump is one of Sedwick’s best events, same as Joyner-Kersee. The javelin and 800 are the other concluding heptathlon events today.

Sedwick, 19, had personal best marks in three of her four events Wednesday--37 feet 4 1/4 inches in the shotput, 5-8 in the high jump and 14.06 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.

Track Notes

As expected, UCLA’s Steve Lewis didn’t accompany the team to Provo and won’t compete in the 400-meter trials today. Lewis, the Olympic gold medalist in the 400, reinjured a hamstring in practice last week. . . . USC’s Leslie Maxie, a 1988 Olympian, had to scratch from her heat in the women’s 400-meter hurdles because of a strained hamstring. . . . USC’s George Porter was impressive in winning his heat in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 49.66 seconds. The Trojans’ Ibrahim Okash also won his 800 heat in 1:47.84. . . . UCLA’s’s Mike Marsh finished second in his heat in the 200, but qualified for the final with a time of 20.59 seconds. . . . Heat winners and the six best times advance to the finals. . . . UCLA’s discus throwers--David Wilson, Brian Blutreich and Peter Thompson--qualified for the final. . . . The UCLA women’s 400-meter relay team was disqualified for running out of its lane.