MARION, Ind. --- Biola junior Natasha Miller finished second in two of the final three events to successfully defend her title in the heptathlon on Friday at the 2010 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Outdoor Track Complex on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University.
Miller wrapped up the event with a personal best 5,310 points, edging out her closest competition by 200 points. She was one of four competitors to record over 5,000 points in the hotly-contested heptathlon this year.
Miller opened the day with a second-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 18-0½. In the javelin, Miller finished seventh with a best throw of 101-7 and still led with 4,475 total points. But a monster throw by Azusa Pacific's Tiffeny Parker made things interesting as Parker moved into second place with 4,454 points.
Miller would wrap up the competition with a strong showing in the 800, placing second overall with a 2:19.13--narrowly edged out of first by one-hundredth of a second--to finish with 5,310 points. Parker finished 15th to drop to third overall while APU's Breanna Leslie jumped into second with a fourth place finish in the event.
The NAIA title was the seventh for Miller in her three years at Biola, adding to her school record haul. With her seventh-place finish in the 100m hurdles later in the day, Miller is now a 17-time NAIA All-American including indoors.
After the busy day, Miller ran against a tough field in the 100m hurdles and placed seventh overall with a time of 14.36, less than one-tenth of a second out of the top three.
Miller will close out her weekend by attempting to defend another title, this time in the high jump. Miller won the event last year by clearing 5-10¾.
Just one other Biola athlete competed on Friday. Junior Katie Thede qualified for the finals of the 5,000 by finishing eighth in her preliminary heat. Thede ran an 18:33 which was 16th fastest on the day, moving her up from her seeded spot of 27th.
will look to qualify for the finals of the 5,000m at 3:30 p.m. (PT).
