From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Ocean City’s Elaina Styer, a Stockton junior, placed 2^nd in the pentathlon  Friday at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Birmingham, earning All-America honors with the 13^th-highest score in D-3 history.

Styer scored 3,765 points, finishing just 17 behind winner Serena McNeilly of Center College in Danville, Ky.

Going into the final event, the 800, Styer trailed McNeilly by 166 points but had a PR 21 seconds faster – 2:21.80 to 2:38.81.

Styer then PR’d with a 2:19.96 for 824 points. That meant McReilly needed 659 points in the 800, which equals 2:32.70. She wound up PR’ing by 7 ½ seconds with a 2:31.44 for 675 points and the national title.

Styer had a tremendous day, however, surpassing her PR of 3,747 points from the New Jersey Athletic Conference Meet at the Ott last month.

Styer is Stockton’s 5^th indoor All-America and her 2^nd-place finish is best by a Stockton woman since high jumper Lisa Shepherd placed 2^nd in 2009.

Styer started out with a huge PR in the 60-meter hurdles with an 8.67, shattering her own school record of 8.82 from a meet at the Ott Center earlier this month. That’s also 11^th-fastest in NCAA Division 3 this year, fastest in the competition and worth a whopping 980 points.

She followed that with a clutch 3^rd-attempt clearance at 5-4 ½, giving her 783 points. That clearance was worth 36 more points than 5-3 ¼ would have been.

Then it was off to the shot put and another big PR for Styer with a 35-9 ¼ on her 2^nd throw for 589 points. Her previous shot PR was 34-9 in February in a meet in Utica, N.Y.

Through three events, Styer was sitting at 2,352 points, 23 behind McNeilly.

In the long jump, Styer fouled on her 1^st attempt and went just 16-2 ¼ on her 2^nd before rebounding with a 16-9 ¼ for 589 points on her 3^rd and final jump. That gave her 2,941 point through four events, 166 behind McNeilly, who jumped 18-5 after placing 4^th in the open long jump at 19-0 ¾.

That set up the dramatic 800, where Styer set her 3^rd PR of the day as well as finishing off her second school record of the day.