May 12, 2005

Competing Tuesday and Wednesday in Irvine, CA, Danielle DeBeaubien (Jr.) started off Conference Championship week for the Gauchos in the Heptathlon. Going in ranked 8th she was facing tough conference foes, including the NCAA Div. I leader. Over two days she got after a difficult seven event schedule finishing 7th, higher than her predicted finish.

A month ago DeBeaubien became the 6th highest scoring All-Time Gaucho in this event after putting up 4,246 points at the California Invitational Multi's at Azusa Pacific University. Continually improving throughout the year she was confident she could improve upon her score.

Day 1 of the heptathlon sees the athletes competing in four events. Beginning with the 100m Hurdles, DeBeaubien opened up with a seasonal best racing to a 15.58 (767pts). Moving onto the High Jump, she soared to a personal best 5'00.25" (655 pts.) putting her on pace to beat her previous best. In her third event, the shot put, she went for 33'11.50" feet (552 pts.). In the final event of Day 1, DeBeaubien ran a 27.38 (681pts.) in the 200m, giving her 2,655. She went home for the night in 7th place, one place higher than her rank and 113 points out of 6th place.

In Day 2 of the heps, the competitor's compete in the Long Jump, the Javelin and finish off with the 800m race. In the Long, she leaped a mark of 16'01 (532pts.), while in the javelin she tossed it 120'04" feet (604pts.), both seasonal bests. Going into the last event DeBeaubien was a mere eight points out of 6th place. A personal best 2:31.17 in the 800m (678pts.) unfortunately was not enough to catch Cuthbert-Alle of Long Beach St. who ran a 2:23.36 to seal up her position in 6th.

Nonetheless DeBeaubien's 7th place finish was a valuable two points for the Gauchos entering the third day of the remaining Track & Field events. She finished with 4,469 points a personal best score and 4th All-Time on the Gaucho Top 10 List.

The rest of the Gaucho Track & Field team arrived in Irvine on Thursday ready to compete. The Men's Hammer is the first event of the day beginning at noon. Track events begin at 3:00pm with the Women's Steeplechase. Visit UCSBTrack.com for complete meet information.