Bradford senior Erin Hannon had been running, jumping and training for this day for years. But it wasn't until this season that she decided to give a multi-event a try. After all, with indoor, it's the Pentathlon, which conveniently offers three of her events, the High Jump, Long Jump and Hurdles. All she would have to do is to get some proficiency in the Shot Put and convince her body that the 800 was just a fun way to finish a meet. If she could do that, she'd be good.
2005 Great Valley grad, Bucknell frosh Becky Eppleman
with Hannon at the Bison Open.
(Photo courtesy of the Eppleman Family.)
Well, if it were that easy, more athletes would give it at try. But Hannon doesn't try anything without preparation. Admittedly, she didn't exactly train for the 800. In fact, she had never run over 400 meters, and that had been in 9th grade, in practice, she thinks. She had raced the 300 Hurdles that year, but hadn't gone over the 100 meter variety since then. As for the Shot Put, she would start simple, using either a power throw... or the slide method. The more sophisticated spin method would have to wait for another day.
She did get to try the Shot Put at a meet at Slippery Rock earlier in January. Actually, she missed the "official" event while competing in another. But meet officials let her give it a try, and with a power throw, she threw 30-09 on the first throw and fouled the second. Not bad for your first outing.
The night of the meet; the Bison Open at Bucknell University, featured nothing but collegians... and Erin. That will make anyone a little nervous. Lucky her first event would be the Hurdles. She had a "rough start," but was able to pick it up and stay with her group. Her time of 8.70, a slight PR for 55 meters, earned her 862 points and put her in 3rd place. All in all, a pretty good start.
Then things got better. The Bucknell Triple Jump and Shot Put coach, Mario Wilson – probably sensing Hannon's nervousness – took the time before the next event to introduce Erin to the Bucknell Multis athletes also competing in the event. "That helped me relax. In fact, the whole atmosphere of a college meet is different. Everybody wasn't so serious. There were rhythm claps all night and the cheering was constant."
Her 2nd event was her best, the High Jump. All the other competitors were out at 5-02. Hannon came in at 5-01 and cleared easily. She passed at 5-02.75, cleared 5-03.25, passed at 5-05.25, and because she was the final competitor, chose to jump at 5-07 instead of the metric heights. She cleared that, and then 5-08 "by a lot." She took two shots at 5-09, nearly making the first one, and decided to take the points and save her strength for the remaining three events. 1st place and 891 points.
"I am still learning the Shot Put." Learning or not, she decided to give the slide a try, instead of a power throw. She went 29-04 for 460 points. "I'll get better." Still, she took 6th place.
The worst thing you can do in a multi event is not get a mark, and therefore, any points. Hannon showed some experience by realizing on her runthroughs that she was not on the board for the Long Jump. Not on the board for the three that count would mean no points. So she went conservatively on her first jump, just to get a mark. Then she took a risk on her second, and jumped 18-01.50, good for 2nd place and 706 points.
Not just that, but she had a huge lead on the field. She would use all but 14 points of that lead on the 800.
But winning the Pentathlon in her first attempt was never her goal. "I just wanted to get 3,200 points to qualify for the national meet in March. And Coach Wilson was great. He told me I had to run a 3:10 or better to get the points I needed for 3,200."
Her goal for the 400 was 1:20, and she was right on. "But then it went downhill from there. My mouth was completely dry. There was nothing left. I just gutted out the last 100." Her time of 2:51.05 gave her 453 points for a total of 3,372.
What Hannon likes about the Multis is the fact that you're just not going for a win. "I could have won the High Jump at 5-6, but every inch is that many more points. You're pushing yourself to get the best you can get."
Her new Bucknell friends congratulated her on the win, and her first, very successful try at the Pentathlon. And while they wished her luck when she gets to Nebraska next year, one of the athletes said she'd always have a place at Bucknell.
Bradford senior Erin Hannon had been running, jumping and training for this day for years. But it wasn't until this season that she decided to give a multi-event a try. After all, with indoor, it's the Pentathlon, which conveniently offers three of her events, the High Jump, Long Jump and Hurdles. All she would have to do is to get some proficiency in the Shot Put and convince her body that the 800 was just a fun way to finish a meet. If she could do that, she'd be good.
2005 Great Valley grad, Bucknell frosh Becky Eppleman
with Hannon at the Bison Open.
(Photo courtesy of the Eppleman Family.)
Well, if it were that easy, more athletes would give it at try. But Hannon doesn't try anything without preparation. Admittedly, she didn't exactly train for the 800. In fact, she had never run over 400 meters, and that had been in 9th grade, in practice, she thinks. She had raced the 300 Hurdles that year, but hadn't gone over the 100 meter variety since then. As for the Shot Put, she would start simple, using either a power throw... or the slide method. The more sophisticated spin method would have to wait for another day.
She did get to try the Shot Put at a meet at Slippery Rock earlier in January. Actually, she missed the "official" event while competing in another. But meet officials let her give it a try, and with a power throw, she threw 30-09 on the first throw and fouled the second. Not bad for your first outing.
