Wisconsin Badgers
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Taking her turn: Flax finishes off first Big Ten title
May 15, 2011 | Women's Track & Field
May 15, 2011
• Results | Results 
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IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Jessica Flax is normally not one to give away a smile.
She certainly earned the one she wore on the awards stand Saturday at the 2011 Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
Flax completed her climb to the top of the conference mountain with an outstanding final day of competition in the heptathlon, putting the final touches on her first-ever Big Ten title. The junior -- who was second after Friday's four events -- amassed a personal-best score of 5,372 points to bring home the championship.
She left no doubt by closing out the two-day competition by posting the fastest time in the seventh and final event -- the 800 meters -- in 2 minutes, 24.18 seconds. That was enough to win the event by more than three seconds over freshman teammate Deanna Latham -- who scored 5,039 points for a fourth-place finish in her first-ever Big Ten heptathlon.
The duo's performances helped stake the Badgers to a third-place tie after eight events had been scored in the team competition. UW and Purdue are tied with 36 points and trail leader Indiana (73 points) and second-place Penn State (43)
Flax's win marked the fourth-consecutive Big Ten multi-event title for the Badgers. Sophomore Dorcas Akinniyi was the defending heptathlon champion and -- combined with her back-to-back pentathlon titles indoors -- had claimed three straight conference crowns.
However, Akinniyi's hopes for sweeping the league's multi-event titles for an unprecedented second-straight year were dashed Friday when she failed to clear her opening height in the high jump.
That miscue, however, opened the door for Flax to ascend to the top of the leaderboard. And Flax responded with the best performance of her career.
She opened the day with a run of 25.98 in the 200 meters -- fourth-best in the field -- and followed with a leap of 17 feet, 5 1/2 inches in the long jump.
Her title push was boosted in a big way in the javelin, as Flax unleashed a throw of 129-7 -- just two inches shy of her personal-best mark -- to lead all competitors. Latham also hit on a throw of 102-0 as one of just three competitors to break the 100-foot barrier.
Like most events on the day, the javelin was adversely affected by unseasonably-low temperatures and consistent, driving rains.
That performance set up a flat-out run to the finish in the 800 meters, a race she won easily to cap a career weekend. Latham finished second in 2:27.72, a time that left her a single, agonizing point out of third place.
While Flax and Latham provided the day's biggest highlight, they were not the only Badgers to contribute to UW's team score.
UW picked up points from the sophomore duo of Taylor Smith and Jasmine Boyer in the shot put, with Smith's fourth-place finish leading the way. She posted a throw of 49 feet, 6 1/2 inches to grab fourth, while Boyer heaved 47-5 3/4 for seventh.
Freshman Angela Boushea narrowly missed cracking the list of scorers with her 10th-place finish on the strength of a mark of 45-1.
Junior Megan Rennhack gave UW another fourth-place showing with her mark of 140-7 in the javelin, a rain-soaked event that also saw freshman Elaina Mezzasalma finish sixth at 133-4.i
On the track, Saturday's preliminary races set the stage for Sunday, and the Badgers pushed a number of athletes through to the finals -- including senior Egle Staisiunaite in three different events.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Staisiunaite, sophomore Jameice DeCoster, freshman Maya Vazquez and junior Katie Duchow raced into the final with a time of 46.41 seconds that stacked up sixth-fastest overall. The performance also ranks the foursome No. 7 all-time at UW.
Staisiunaite also pushed through to the final in the 100-meter hurdles with a run of 13.81 and followed with a qualifying performance of 1:00.72 in the 400-meter hurdles.
Sophomore Brittany Harper also raced her way to Sunday with a strong showing in the 800 meters. A converted 400 meters specialist, Harper clocked in at 2:09.80 to qualify sixth-fastest overall.
The final day of the Big Ten championships begins with the women's triple jump at 11 a.m.
