Gillingham finishes 5th in Summit League heptathlon

Former Minneota track and field standout Lizzy Gillingham, a senior at South Dakota State University, recently finished fifth in the women's heptathlon at the Summit League meet in Fargo.
Gillingham's 4,599 points in the seven-event heptathlon is the fifth most in school history. The Summit League meet on May 12-13 at North Dakota State University concluded the outdoor season for Gillingham.
"I was hoping to get around 4,600 or 4,700 points, but small little things like fouling on the long jump cost me points."
Gillingham competed in the 100 and 200 dashes, long jump and relays in high school. She decided to take on the challenge of competing in the heptathlon in college which features the 100 hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 dash, javelin, long jump and 800 run.
"It's a lot of fun," said Gillingham about competing in the heptathlon. "I really enjoy the camaraderie of competing in multi events against the same people."
Heptathletes compete in four of the events on the first day, then finish up the next day with the other three.
"You get 30 minutes between each event," Gillingham explained. "You warm up so much different for each event. You do get tired, but you just keep pushing through it."
Gillingham finished fifth with a personal best 15.33 in the hurdles, was eighth in the high jump, first in the shot put with a throw of 36-9, fifth in the 200, fourth with a personal best throw of 105 feet in the javelin, fifth in the long jump, and third in the 800.
Gillingham, a senior majoring in Human Biology, will be able to compete again next year due to the cancellation of the season in 2020 due to the pandemic.