May 4, 2001

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – After the first day of competition in the 2001 BIG EAST Outdoor Championships, the University of Notre Dame’s lone heptathlon competitor, sophomore Betsy Lazerri, (Kennett Square, Pa.) sits in seventh place.

Lazerri tallied 2,654 points in the first four events, just 18 points out of sixth place and trailing leader Bettina Lee of the University of Pittsburgh by 415 points. In today’s action, Lazerri bettered her marks on the year in two of the four events. Her time of 15.61 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles is an improvement over the 15.83 she ran at the Purdue Invitational on April 28. Lazerri also improved three feet in the shot put with a mark of 32 feet, 7.5 inches. Her previous best this season was in the Spring Opener on April 7, when she threw 29 feet, 4.5 inches.

The heptathletes also competed in the high jump and 200-meter dash today. Lazerri cleared 1.55 meters in the high jump, just under her season best of 1.6 meters, and went 27.30 in the 200.

In tomorrow’s competition, the heptathletes will compete in the long jump, javelin throw and 800-meter run. If Lazerri keeps pace at seventh or raises her overall standing in tomorrow’s events, she will improve on her eighth place finish from the 2000 BIG EAST Outdoor competition where she earned 4,204 points.