6th-Place Finish a Dunn Deal : Track & field: With limited practice because of injury, Northridge javelin thrower disappoints at NCAA championships.

A lack of competition in previous meets and limited practice the past two weeks because of a knee injury resulted in a disappointing finish Wednesday for Kristin Dunn of Cal State Northridge in the NCAA track and field championships at the University of Tennessee.

Dunn, who placed third in the women’s javelin in last year’s meet as a junior, finished sixth at 165 feet.

Canadian Valerie Tulloch of Rice threw 192-1 to win her second consecutive title and third in the last four years. She was followed by Minnesota senior Heather Berlin (183-2) and Southern Methodist freshman Windy Dean (172-3).

The top eight finishers with U.S. citizenship in each event earned All-American honors, but Dunn took little solace.

“I am an All-American,” she said. “I finished sixth and that’s great. But in my mind, that’s not good enough.”

Dunn’s goal was to improve her school record of 176-4, and she figured she was on her way after some good warmup throws. But she tensed up during the competition, according to Northridge assistant Candy Roberts.

Dunn threw 165-0 on her first throw, but got progressively worse. She hit 163-2 on her second and 161-6 on her third before throwing less than 160 on her final three attempts.

“She basically just rushed it,” Roberts said. “Once the competition started, she didn’t stay relaxed. She got excited, she got tense and she got scared.”

Dunn’s fear resulted from competing against a national-class field for the first time this season and from doubts about her preparation after a knee injury limited her to one throwing workout in the previous two weeks.

“I think the fact that she had not had a meet against this caliber of competition led to her downfall,” Roberts said. “Basically, she wasn’t as mentally prepared as she needed to be. Physically, she was ready for the first time this season. But mentally, she was just not ready to step it up.”

An injury to Dunn’s right knee required a cortisone shot last week, but she said it didn’t bother her during the competition.

“My body felt good,” she said. “I felt ready. But as soon as the competition started, I felt like I lost it. Mentally, there was a lot of fear and a lot of doubt that affected my approach.”

Dunn, who was undefeated in five previous meets, was within striking distance of fourth-place Vera Inancsi (168-7) of George Mason and fifth-place Tiffany Lott (166-7) of Brigham Young after the first three rounds, but could not catch them.