VC's O'Reilly, Allison Shine at SoCal Heptathlon

VC track and field athletes Cassandra O'Reilly and Charlotte Allison produced a great results over two days of competition Tuesday at Wednesday at the Southern California Heptathlon at El Camino College in Torrance. O'Reilly had lifetime best marks in four events and had a competition-best throw in the shot put by five feet to place sixth in the event. Allison, meanwhile, had four lifetime bests in the seven events and placed second in the high jump to come in seventh overall. Both qualified for the state championships to be held May 20-21.

The heptathlon is a two-day seven-event competition featuring the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m on the first day, and the long jump, javelin and 800m on day two. The Southern California regional competition is held separate from the other track and field regionals, which will take place on May 6 and 13.

O'Reilly, a freshman from Rio Mesa High School, scored 3739 points, a 369 point improvement from her first heptathlon last month. Her effort is also the sixth-best mark all-time at VC. She had personal heptathlon bests in the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, javelin, and the 800m.

On Tuesday, O'Reilly won her heat and was fourth overall in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.08. She followed that by crushing her lifetime best in the high jump by over seven inches to place eighth. O'Reilly then won the shot put by nearly five feet, throwing 38' 1.25" for a heptathlon best, but not a personal record. She finished the first day by placing fourth in the 200m.

On day two, O'Reilly leaped a lifetime best in the long jump to finish 10th overall before coming in eighth in the javelin. In the final event, O'Reilly's weakest of the seven, she posted another lifetime best in 800m.

Allison, a freshman from LaReina High School, scored 3631 points, a 211 point improvement from her mark on March 11. She is now seventh-best all-time in the Pirate record books. She had personal heptathlon bests in the high jump, shot put, 200m, javelin and 800m.

On the first day, Allison finished third in her heat in the 100m hurdles, placing eighth overall. She followed that up with a heptathlon-best, not a lifetime best, in the high jump to finish in the runner-up spot. Allison then posted a lifetime best in the shot put to come in 12th, and she ran a lifetime best in the 200m to come in eighth.

On Wednesday, Allison had a strong first jump in the long jump before missing her mark on the second two attempts. She still finished fourth in the event. Her lifetime-best in the javelin was good for ninth place in the competition and a lifetime-best in the 800m placed her 11th overall.

O'Reilly and Allison will next join their VC track and field teammates on Saturday April 9 at the Mt. SAC Relays.