INDIANAPOLIS - Returning for revenge over Team Germany's three-consecutive wins, Bettie Wade led Team USA in the women's heptathlon to a sweeping victory at the annual Thorpe Cup combined events challenge, held in Marburg, Germany, August 7-8.
Added to the Thorpe Cup challenge in 2006, the heptathlon event has seen victory by Team Germany three times in four outings. But led by Bettie Wade's performance of 5,984 points, Team USA swept all three scoring positions to end Germany's winning streak this year. Finishing second and third respectively were UCLA's Ryann Krais, with a lifetime best of 5,779 points, and former West Virginia stand-out Abbie Stechschulte, also with a lifetime best, finishing with 5,755 points.
Other American women competing in Germany were Emily Pearson (5,611) and Kasey Hill (5,514).
Winning the individual competition in the men's decathlon, USA Outdoors third-place finisher Joe Detmer elevated his lifetime best to 8,090 points by setting new personal bests in seven of the ten events. Following Detmer's lead, Chris Helwick finished runner-up to Detmer with 7,799 points.
Even with Team USA finishing one and two, Germany was able to finish three through five and take home the team title. The overall score ended very closely with USA at 38,255 and Germany at 38,268. Team USA still leads with 13 wins in 17 outings.
For more information on Team USA at the 2010 Thorpe Cup in Germany, visit USATF.org.
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.
For more information on USATF, visit USATF.org.
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