U.S. women win heptathlon team battle for ninth consecutive year; German men prevail for second year in a row and eighth time in past nine meetings in decathlon showdown

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The American women continued their dominance in Thorpe Cup competition Friday and Saturday, winning for the ninth consecutive year against Germany in the annual multi-event showdown, which celebrated its 25th anniversary at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The German men prevailed for the second year in a row and the eighth time in the past nine years.

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Although Germany’s Sophie Weissenberg secured individual victory in the women’s heptathlon with 6,165 points, the U.S. posted the team win, relying on the combined scores of three performers in the top six to produce a 17,809 to 17,575 triumph.

Weissenberg set the meet record in the high jump, clearing 6-0.75 (1.85m) on her second attempt to eclipse the mark of 6-0.50 (1.84m) set in 2011 by American Bette Wade.

The Americans had the next five finishers behind Weissenberg, with Lindsay Schwartz accumulating 6,050 points, Allison Reaser scoring 5,910 and Alissa Brooks-Johnson amassing 5,868. Ashtin Zamzow was fifth overall with 5,849 points and Riley Cooks scored 5,800 for the U.S.

Zamzow set the meet record in the javelin with a third-round throw of 169 feet (51.53m), surpassing the 2014 mark of 162-4 (49.49m) set by Germany’s Annette Fleming.

Steve Bastien earned the individual decathlon victory for the Americans with 7,980 points, but Tim Nowak led four Germans in the top six overall, placing second with 7,948 to lead a 38,915 to 37,902 win based on each country’s top five athletes.

Solomon Simmons was third for the U.S. with 7,919, Tim Ehrhardt finished seventh with 7,647, Tim Wunderlich took ninth with 7,467 and Charlie Card-Childers placed 12th with 6,889.

Germany’s Manuel Eitel, who finished fourth overall with 7,906 points, broke the 1998 meet record in the 100-meter dash by clocking 10.43 seconds, just edging the 10.44 standard held for the past 20 years by American Trafton Rodgers.