Ayers-Stamper Wins Gold Medal at Mount SAC Heptathlon
April 14, 2005

AZUSA, Ca. -- Danielle Ayers-Stamper of Seattle Pacific University compiled the school’s third best all-time score and earned an automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Division II Track & Field Outdoor Championships en route to winning a gold medal at the Mount SAC Relays heptathlon competition on the campus of Azusa Pacific University Thursday afternoon.

Ayers-Stamper (Jr. LaCrosse, Wa.), racked up a personal record 5491 points over seven events, punctuating the meet with a PR time of 2:21:01 in the 800 meters. The junior’s score was a Great Northwest Athletic Conference record and ranked No. 3 on the school’s all-time charts behind record holder Anita Sartin (5991) and Karin Grelsson (5604). Ayers-Stamper’s total was just nine points off automatic qualification for the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in June, and was a “B” standard.

The reigning NCAA Division II indoor high jump champion, and two-time outdoor All-American entered day two of the meet in second place with 3181 points. Ayers-Stamper began the afternoon with a long jump of 19-1½, and overtook leader Aja Frary of the Sheffield Elites during the javelin with a 124-02 heave.

Cal’s Brooke Meredith finished second in the competition with 5401; Frary was third at 5280.

Ayers-Stamper’s previous heptathlon best was 5149, which she scored while finishing second at the 2003 U.S. National Junior Championships at Stanford University.