Collins 11th in first half

SACRAMENTO — UC Irvine sophomore Lauren Collins scored 3,370 points Thursday, putting her in 11th place after the first day of the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Sacramento State.

The Big West champion had marks of 14.21 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, 5 feet, 10 inches in the high jump, 36-8 1/2 in the shot put and 25.29 in the 200 meters.

Gaelle Niare of Southern Methodist University leads the field of 25 competitors with 3,690 points. The final three events will be contested today, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at Hornet Stadium at Sacramento State.

UCI senior Ricky Barnes, with a time of 3:45.37, placed 17th out of 27 runners in the preliminaries of the 1,500 meters and did not advance to Saturday’s final.

UCI junior Julian Eison will compete in the finals of the high jump today at 3 p.m.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Sharon Day, a former Costa Mesa High standout and the NCAA West Region champion, will be in the women’s high jump final today, as well.

— From staff reports