Anna Hall is not shy about expressing her emotions. And why should she be?
Whether fist-pumping following a near-personal-best in the shot put, or leaping off the mat and clapping to celebrate c a career-best in the high jump, Thursday was pentathlon champion Hall’s day in at the USA Track & Field Indoor National Championships. The meet continues Friday and Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Setting out with a goal of no less than an American record in the pentathlon, Hall blistered the field — surpassing not only the American record of 4,805 points set nine years ago in Albuquerque by Sharon Day-Monroe, but threatening the world record of 5,013, set in 2012 by Nataliya Dobrynska of Ukraine.
In the end, however, Hall lay on her back on the track, arms splayed, chest heaving.
Needing to run a doable but still-blistering 2-minutes, 5.10 seconds in the 800-meters, Hall managed a 2:05.70. It left with her with 5,004 points — second-best indoor mark ever in the world.
“Honestly, I felt like I was in a bad spot,” she said. “My hamstrings were cramping but I was just, ‘I have a shot at this. I’m going to lay it all out there and hope for the best. All I could do was run my heart out and hope the time would come. I ran my heart out, and it wasn’t quite there. If I do that, there’s nothing I can do.”
Her mom, Ronette Hall, beamed from the sideline, knowing her daughter did just that.
“It was scary and exciting at the same time,” Ronette Hall said. “She gutted it out. That’s Anna. If you watch Anna, that’s what she does. There’s nothing but 100 percent.”
Hall’s day was so dominant that she won all five events and did so handily, easily outpacing runner up Hope Bender by 559 points.
A disappointing finish in the long jump curtailed Hall’s world-record attempt, although she still went 20 feet, 9¾ inches.
“Definitely started feeling the fatigue there,” she admitted. “It wasn’t as clean of a competition as I would have liked. The runway was definitely all over the place, and that’s controllable no matter how I’m feeling. That one is kind of on me. It stings a little bit more.”
Hall is coming off a distinguished year, in which she was the 2022 NCAA Outdoor heptathlon (seven events) champion, the 2022 USATF Combined Events heptathlon champion and the 2022 NCAA Indoor pentathlon champion for Florida.
So she came into this event, her first pro meet, looking to be impressive.
“Honestly, in my mind, I told my coaches if I don’t get the American record, we had a bad meet, just based on my marks this indoor season,” she said. “We knew that if I put together a solid multis, I should end with it. Now getting the world record it would have to be a perfect day. So we were kind of expecting to be somewhere in between, which, I guess, is where we ended up. But in the back of my mind, I’m always shooting for a perfect day. And for me a perfect day was the world record. That’s going to be the goal every time.”
Erin Marsh, who finished third with 4,432 points, was glad to have one of the best seats in the house to watch the record attempt.
“It’s really cool,” she said. “I feel you’re able to say you were a part of something special as well. And I’ve been competing against her a lot of years now. And it’s been really cool seeing her progress along over the years. I appreciate her for bringing attention to the multis. I feel like we don’t get enough love so it’s really cool what she’s doing. I’m hoping to close the gap in the points over time, but it was really cool to be a part of it.”
As for the world record, which also carries a $100,000 prize, Marsh has no doubts Hall at some point will be standing alone.
“Her agent was talking about her breaking the world record, and I thought she’s out of her mind,” Marsh said. “But then her high jump went (6-3¼) and I thought she’s going to do it. I 100-percent think she’ll do that. Very soon. And I’m totally rooting for her.”
In the men’s heptathlon, which concludes Friday with three events, Will Daniels is out in front with 3,430 points, just 40 points ahead of Steven Bastien.
FRIDAY: Day two of the U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships, Albuquerque Convention Center. (Schedule is here, tickets can be bought here.)
SCORES
2023 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships - 2/16/2023 Albuquerque Convention Center Women's Pentathlon Final Scores: 1. Anna Hall, adidas, 5004 points. 2. Hope Bender , Unattached, 4445. 3. Erin Marsh, Unattached, 4432. 4. Shaina Burns, Unattached, 4380. 5. Chari Hawkins, Unattached, 4312. 6. Kaitlin Smith, Unattached, 4191. 7. Cheyenne Williamson, Unattached, 4185. 8. Avery McMullen, Colorado, 4112. 9. Caroline Lewis, Notre Dame, 3985. 10. Katie Eidem, Elite Sports & Fitness Academy, 3975. 11. Jada Green, Colorado, 3890. 12. Jordyn Bruce, Unattached, 3618. Indoor Pentathlon: #5 Women 800 Meter Run Indoor Pentathlon Finals 1, Anna Hall, adidas, 2:05.70. 2, Hope Bender, Unattached, 2:13.25. 3, Kaitlin Smith, Unattached, 2:17.04. 4, Shaina Burns, Unattached, 2:17.86. 5, Katie Eidem, Elite Sports+Fit, 2:18.12. 6, Cheyenne Williamson, Unattached, 2:20.53. 7, Avery G McMullen, Colorado, 2:21.99. 8, Erin Marsh, Unattached, 2:22.29. 9, Chari Hawkins, Unattached, 2:25.98. 10, Jordyn Bruce, Unattached, 2:26.05. 11, Jada Green, Colorado, 2:26.31. 12, Caroline Lewis, Notre Dame, 2:26.90. Indoor Pentathlon: #1 Women 60 Meter Hurdles Indoor Pentathlon 1, Anna Hall, adidas, 8.04. 2, Erin Marsh, Unattached, 8.11. 3, Chari Hawkins, Unattached, 8.17. 4, Avery G McMullen, Colorado, 8.32. 5, Cheyenne Williamson, Unattached, 8.39. 6, Hope Bender, Unattached, 8.44. 7, Kaitlin Smith, Unattached, 8.44. 8, Katie Eidem, Elite Sports+Fit, 8.56. 9, Jada Green, Colorado, 8.63. 10, Shaina Burns, Unattached, 8.68. 11, Jordyn Bruce, Unattached, 8.77. 12, Caroline Lewis, Notre Dame, 8.81. Indoor Pentathlon: #2 Women High Jump Indoor Pentathlon 1, Anna Hall, adidas, 1.91m, (6-03.25). 2, Hope Bender, Unattached, 1.76m, (5-09.25). 2, Cheyenne Williamson, Unattached, 1.76m, (5-09.25). 2, Shaina Burns, Unattached, 1.76m, (5-09.25). 2, Chari Hawkins, Unattached, 1.76m, (5-09.25). 2, Erin Marsh, Unattached, 1.76m, (5-09.25). 7, Caroline Lewis, Notre Dame, 1.73m, (5-08). 8, Kaitlin Smith, Unattached, 1.70m, (5-07). 9, Katie Eidem, Elite Sports+Fit, 1.64m, (5-04.50). 9, Avery G McMullen, Colorado, 1.64m, (5-04.50). 11, Jordyn Bruce, Unattached, 1.61m, (5-03.25). 12, Jada Green, Colorado, 1.58m, (5-02.25). Indoor Pentathlon: #4 Women Long Jump Indoor Pentathlon 1, Anna Hall, adidas, 6.34m, (20-09.75). 2, Erin Marsh, Unattached, 6.14m, (20-01.75). 3, Hope Bender, Unattached, 6.04m, (19-09.75). 4, Avery G McMullen, Colorado, 6.02m, (19-09). 5, Shaina Burns, Unattached, 6.01m, (19-08.75). 6, Caroline Lewis, Notre Dame, 5.92m, (19-05.25). 7, Chari Hawkins, Unattached, 5.85m, (19-02.50). 8, Cheyenne Williamson, Unattached, 5.77m, (18-11.25). 8, Kaitlin Smith, Unattached, 5.77m, (18-11.25). 10, Jada Green, Colorado, 5.74m, (18-10). 11, Katie Eidem, Elite Sports+Fit, 5.56m, (18-03). 12, Jordyn Bruce, Unattached, 4.99m, (16-04.50). Indoor Pentathlon: #3 Women Shot Put Indoor Pentathlon 1, Anna Hall, adidas, 13.80m, (45-03.50). 2, Shaina Burns, Unattached, 13.61m, (44-08). 3, Chari Hawkins, Unattached, 13.27m, (43-06.50). 4, Erin Marsh, Unattached, 12.80m, (42-00). 5, Hope Bender, Unattached, 12.69m, (41-07.75). 6, Jada Green, Colorado, 12.26m, (40-02.75). 7, Kaitlin Smith, Unattached, 12.02m, (39-05.25). 8, Katie Eidem, Elite Sports+Fit, 11.41m, (37-05.25). 9, Cheyenne Williamson, Unattached, 11.38m, (37-04). 10, Avery G McMullen, Colorado, 11.36m, (37-03.25). 11, Jordyn Bruce, Unattached, 11.26m, (36-11.50). 12, Caroline Lewis, Notre Dame, 10.87m, (35-08). Women 3000 Meter Race Walk 1, Miranda Melville, New York A C, 13:37.69. 2, Maria Michta-Coffey, Oiselle/Walk USA, 13:49.29. 3, Janelle Branch, Tracksmith, 14:04.17. 4, Stephanie Casey, Tracksmith, 14:24.25. 5, Katie Burnett, Unattached, 14:47.23. 6, Celina Lepe, Unattached, 14:55.08. 7, Katherine Miale, New England Walk, 14:55.82. 8, Angelina Colon, Mansfield PA, 15:02.68. Heptathlon Scores After 4 Events: 1. Will Daniels, Unattached, 3430 points. 2. Steven Bastien, Tracksmith, 3390. 3. Samuel Black, Garage Strength, 3289. 4. Devon Williams, Jacksonville AC, 3251. 5. Kyle Martin, Jacksonville AC, 3003. 6. Erick Duffy, Lux Viridi AC, 2980. 7. Connor McLean, Willamette Striders, 2894. 8. Jackson Walker, Velaasa, 2593. Heptathlon: #1 Men 60 Meter Dash Heptathlon 1, Will Daniels, Unattached, 6.83. 2, Samuel Black, Garage Strength, 6.87. 3, Erick Duffy, Lux Viridi AC, 6.91. 4, Steven Bastien, Tracksmith, 6.94. 5, Devon Williams, Jacksonville AC, 7.00. 6, Kyle Martin, Jacksonville AC, 7.13. 7, Connor McLean, Willamette S, 7.18. 8, Jonathan Ply, Jacksonville AC, 7.28. 9, Jackson Walker, Velaasa, 7.30. Heptathlon: #4 Men High Jump Heptathlon 1, Steven Bastien, Tracksmith, 2.06m, (6-09). 1, Will Daniels, Unattached, 2.06m, (6-09). 3, Samuel Black, Garage Strength, 1.97m, (6-05.50). 4, Devon Williams, Jacksonville AC, 1.91m, (6-03.25). 4, Kyle Martin, Jacksonville AC, 1.91m, (6-03.25). 6, Erick Duffy, Lux Viridi AC, 1.88m, (6-02). 7, Connor McLean, Willamette S, 1.85m, (6-00.75). 8, Jackson Walker, Velaasa, 1.76m, (5-09.25). Heptathlon: #2 Men Long Jump Heptathlon 1, Steven Bastien, Tracksmith, 7.55m, (24-09.25). 2, Devon Williams, Jacksonville AC, 7.42m, (24-04.25). 3, Will Daniels, Unattached, 7.40m, (24-03.50). 4, Samuel Black, Garage Strength, 7.16m, (23-06). 5, Connor McLean, Willamette S, 6.93m, (22-09). 6, Kyle Martin, Jacksonville AC, 6.73m, (22-01). 7, Erick Duffy, Lux Viridi AC, 6.71m, (22-00.25). 8, Jackson Walker, Velaasa, 5.83m, (19-01.50). Heptathlon: #3 Men Shot Put Heptathlon 1, Samuel Black, Garage Strength, 14.06m, (46-01.50). 2, Devon Williams, Jacksonville AC, 14.04m, (46-00.75). 3, Will Daniels, Unattached, 13.82m, (45-04.25). 4, Kyle Martin, Jacksonville AC, 13.43m, (44-00.75). 5, Steven Bastien, Tracksmith, 13.21m, (43-04.25). 6, Jackson Walker, Velaasa, 13.06m, (42-10.25). 7, Erick Duffy, Lux Viridi AC, 12.27m, (40-03.25). 8, Connor McLean, Willamette S, 12.03m, (39-05.75). Men 3000 Meter Race Walk 1, Nick Christie, Unattached, 11:56.67. 2, Daniel Nehnevaj, Raleigh Walkers, 12:19.23. 3, Emmanuel Corvera, New York A C, 12:50.49. 4, Samuel Allen, Shore AC, 12:51.32. 5, Bricyn Healey, Raleigh Walkers, 12:51.89. 6, Jordan Crawford, Unattached, 12:58.64. 7, John Risch, Q Elite, 13:27.04.
