SACRAMENTO, Calif. - University of Hawai`i discus thrower Novelle Murray and heptathlete Annett Wichmann placed in the top 10 of the their respective events at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Friday, at Sacramento State's Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex. Murray finished ninth in the discus finals while Wichmann was ninth in the heptathlon.

"They both finished in the top 10 which is a great achievement and says something about where our program is headed," UH head coach Carmyn James said. "Novelle wasn't particularly pleased with her throws since she's capable of much more. She's a little disappointed needless to say. Annett didn't start off well in the long jump. She came back and had heptathlon PRs in both the javelin and 800 so she was pretty ecstatic about her final point total. It was the end of a pretty successful season and I can't say enough about our two athletes and where they have come."

Murray, a senior from Surrey, British Columbia, was seeking the program's first national championship since Gwen Loud captured the long jump title in 1984. One of 12 athletes competing in the final, Murray's initial throw of 164-9 (50.22m) got her into the final nine but she failed to better that mark on her next three attempts.

Kelechi Anyanwu of California won the event with a throw of 188-11 (57.58m).

Wichmann, a junior from Jena, Germany, tallied 5,649 points in the seven-discipline event, shattering her previous best by 92 points, set last month in her gold medal winning performance at the Western Athletic Conference Championship in Fresno, Calif.

Wichmann, who began the day tied for ninth, started with a sub-par mark of 17-8.75 (5.40m) in the long jump, which dropped her six spots to 15th overall. She rebounded in the javelin, her strongest event, with the day's third-best throw of 146-11 (44.78m), moving her up to 10th.

In the final event, the 800-meter run, Wichmann clocked in with a heptathlon event best of 2:19.40, the eighth fastest time.

Defending champion Jacquelyn Johnson of Arizona State, captured her second straight title with a total of 5,984 points.

Murray was competing in her first NCAA Championship, while Wichmann placed 17th at last year's nationals.

NCAA Championship Live Results

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