Xenia Rahn breaks heptathlon record in Athens

What does jumping as high and as far as you can, running as fast as you can, throwing a metal ball as far as you can, and flinging a spear as far as you can have in common?

If you answered track and field’s heptathlon, a two day long, seven-event competition, you are correct. And North Carolina redshirt junior Xenia Rahn mastered those seven events on Wednesday and Thursday en route to breaking the UNC and ACC record for the highest score ever recorded in the event.

Coming into the Bulldog Heptathlon in Athens, Georgia, Rahn’s goal was simply to qualify for the NCAA championships later this spring, but instead churned out a performance for the ages.

On Wednesday, she came out firing, with a personal record 13.79 in the 110-meter hurdles and then cleared the highest bar in the high jump, leaping 1.75 meters. The Hamburg Germany native finished the day in third place in a loaded field after a solid 12.67 meter thrown in the shot put and recording a 25.59 second 200 meter dash.

Thursday came more fireworks, as Rhan set another personal record and bested the whole field with a 6.35-meter leap in the long jump, good enough for the fifth best long jump in the country this season. She followed that up with 42.98 meter hurl in the javelin throw and ultimately finished the overall competition in second place after running the 800 meter race in 2 minutes and 23 seconds.

Even though she finished in second place in the competition, her marks were still strong enough to set the conference and school record, and the former Tar Heel record holder was not at all sad to see her name disappear from the record books.

And the reason for that is because the record Rhan broke previously belonged to Nicole Hudson, who so happens to be a current assistant coach for UNC. Hudson will undoubtedly be watching with bated breath as her star pupil continues on into the outdoor season, as she sets her goals even higher, a national championship.

sports@dailytarheel.com