Courtesy of Kansas State Athletics
AUSTIN, Texas – Junior Urte Bacianskaite collected Second Team All-America honors in the women's heptathlon by finishing in ninth place with a personal-best total of 5,790 points on the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Saturday (June 10).
Bacianskaite, a native of Panevezys, Lithuania, earns All-America honors for the first time in her career, while becoming the 13th Wildcat to do so in the heptathlon and the first since Lauren Taubert and Ariel Okorie in 2021.
Bacianskaite's new personal-best total of 5,790 points is the sixth-best mark in school history and the best since Taubert scored 5,831 points at the 2021 Jim Click Shootout. Bacianskaite's previous best score of 5,691 points came earlier this year at the Jim Click Shootout on April 6-7.
Entering the day in 12th place with 3,446 points, Bacianskaite was boosted by a fourth-place finish in the javelin, in which, she launched a toss of 44.85m/147-1 on her third and final throw to collect 761 points. She opened the competition with a throw of 35.71m/117-2 before fouling her second opportunity.
Bacianskaite began the day with a 14th-place finish in the long jump with an opening leap of 5.86m/19-2 ¾ to score 807 points. She followed with a jump of 5.80m/19 ½ before fouling her final chance. She finished the competition with a 13th-place finish in the 800 meters to score 776 points.
Bacianskaite was the runner-up in the shot put on day one, posting a new personal-best throw of 15.19m/49-10. She finished 19th in the 200 meters with a time of 25.54 seconds (+1.6) and 21st in both the 100 meter hurdles (14.36 seconds) and the high jump (1.66m/5.5.25).
Oklahoma sophomore Pippi Lotta Emok won the NCAA title with 6,165 points followed by Vanderbilt senior Beatrice Juskeviciute (6,117 points) and Texas junior Kristine Blazevica (6,058 points).
Florida won the men's team title with 57 points, just ahead of Arkansas (53 points), while Texas collected the women's team title with 83 points, well ahead of second-place Florida (51 points).
Bacianskaite's performance completes the 2022-23 track and field season. In addition to Bacianskaite, juniors Emma Robbins and Kade McCall each earned All-America honors in the hammer throw. Robbins broke the school record in the women's hammer throw with a new personal-best mark of 69.89m/229-3 to collect First Team All-America distinction, while McCall tallied Second Team All-America honors for the second consecutive season in the men's hammer throw with a toss of 68.72m/225-5 to place 14th.
NCAA Championships
Mike A. Myers Stadium
Austin, Texas
Final Results – Women's Heptathlon
9. Urte Bacianskaite, 5,790 pts.
Saturday's events:
Women's Heptathlon Long Jump
14. Urte Bacianskaite, 5.86m/19-2 ¾ (+2.4)
Women's Heptathlon Javelin
4. Urte Bacianskaite, 44.85/147-1
Women's Heptathlon 800 Meters
13. Urte Bacianskaite, 2:23.54
Friday's events:
Women's Heptathlon 100 Meter Hurdles
21. Urte Bacianskaite, 14.36 (+3.2)
Women's Heptathlon High Jump
21. Urte Bacianskaite, 1.66m/5-5.25
Women's Heptathlon Shot Put
2. Urte Bacianskaite, 15.19m/49-10 (PR)
Women's Heptathlon 200 Meter Dash
19. Urte Bacianskaite, 25.54 (+1.6)
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