Hall clocks 2:04.61 to elevate to No. 4 competitor in collegiate history and 12th all-time American heptathlete with 6,412 points; Texas’ Neugebauer ascends into top 30 in NCAA decathlon with 8,131 points, Arkansas’ Wilson runs fastest American 400-meter hurdles in March with 54.65 prelim effort

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Anna Hall celebrated her 21st birthday Wednesday by not only becoming the best heptathlete for her age in American history, but the Florida standout achieved the feat by punctuating the two-day competition with the best all-time 800-meter effort for a collegiate and U.S. competitor in the heptathlon Thursday at the 94th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

Hall clocked 2 minutes, 4.61 seconds to cap the No. 4 performance in collegiate history with 6,412 points.

Hall surpassed both Kendell Williams (6,402) and Jackie Joyner-Kersee (6.390) for the most points for an American 21-year-old heptathlete, in addition to ascending to the No. 12 performer in U.S. history and breaking into the top 100 all-time among global competitors.

Hall also achieved a wind-legal personal-best 23.81 in the 200 meters Wednesday, as well as a lifetime-best 13.41 in the 100 hurdles. She also added a personal-best efforts of 44-1.50 (13.45m) in the shot put and 20-5.25 (6.23m) in the long jump.

Her 800 performance eclipsed the 2016 American all-time heptathlon mark of 2:06.82 by Heather Miller-Koch.

Duke teammates Isabel Wakefield (5,850) and Erin Marsh (5,735) finished second and third. Marsh was second and Wakefield finished seventh behind the winner Hall in the pentathlon March 11 at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

Leo Neugebauer of Texas elevated into the top 30 in collegiate history in the decathlon by emerging victorious with 8,131 points.

Neugebauer took the lead for good following the 400 meters Wednesday and never relinquished control Thursday.

Alex Spyridonidis of Auburn finished second with 7,917 points.

Britton Wilson of Arkansas achieved the fastest 400-meter hurdles time in March by an American or collegiate athlete by clocking 54.65 in the prelims.

Wilson ascended to the No. 19 collegiate competitor overall after eclipsing the Arkansas record of 55.17 by Sparkle McKnight in 2013.

Former Arkansas standout Shafiqua Maloney won the women’s 800 in 2:04.59, with Brooke Jaworski of Texas finishing second in 2:04.90.

Texas secured additional victories in the women’s 10,000 meters, as sisters Monica Hebner (34:25.28) and Isabel Hebner (34:27.55) took the top two spots, along with Jonathan Jones in the men’s 800 in 1:45.83 and Yaseen Abdalla in the men’s 5,000 in 13:48.80.

Princeton had a pair of wins in the men’s 1,500, as Harrison Witt clocked 3:45.34 to edge Noah Stevenson of Kansas State in 3:45.99, in addition to Ed Trippas in the 3,000 steeplechase in 8:49.11.

Irene Rono of Abilene Christian triumphed in the women’s 5,000 in 16:13.88 and Kansas State’s Kassidy Johnson prevailed in the women’s 1,500 in 4:20.29.

Texas State earned wins in the men’s 10,000 from Kwanele Mthembu in 29:49.18 and Alyssa Wilson in the women’s hammer throw with a mark of 228-7 (69.68m), with Auburn’s Madi Malone securing runner-up with a 223-foot effort (67.98m).

Eleonora Curtabbi of West Texas A&M emerged victorious in the women’s 3,000 steeplechase in 10:16.66.

Baylor’s Nathaniel Ezekiel led all qualifiers in the men’s 400 hurdles by clocking 49.14 to secure the top spot entering Friday’s final.

Diego del Real of Mexico won the men’s hammer throw with a 239-1 (72.89m) performance, with USC’s Trey Knight the top collegiate competitor, finishing runner-up at 228-2 (69.54m).

Oklahoma’s Olivia Lueking cleared 14-7.25 (4.45m) in the women’s pole vault, with Chloe Wall of Texas Tech finishing second with a 14-3.25 (4.35m) clearance.

Houston’s Christyan Sampy triumphed in the men’s pole vault by clearing 18-2.50 (5.55m), with four athletes achieving 17-6.50 (5.35m) clearances.

In the only high school competitions Thursday, a pair of sophomores took the top two spots in the girls 2,000-meter steeplechase, as Margaret Thompson of Hockaday School edged Sara Morefield of Lucas Lovejoy by a 7:03.28 to 7:03.68 margin.

Luke Brooker from Houston Homeschool Athletics was the winner of the boys 2,000 steeplechase in 6:12.93, with Kellen Frickel of Round Rock Cedar Ridge (6;14.18) holding on for second ahead of Antonian College Prep’s Todd Worth (6:14.19).