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Olympics: Day’s results mixed

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Sharon Day, a Costa Mesa High product, ran hot and cold on Friday on her first day of the seven-event heptathlon at the Olympic Games in London.

Day, 27, sits 18th overall with 3,740 points after four events. Jessica Ennis of Great Britain leads the field with 4,158 points, while American Hyleas Fontain is fifth with 3,900.

Day began the day with a personal record of 13.57 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. She finished fifth in her heat, but posted the 17th-best time, good for 1,040 points.

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Next came the high jump, the event in which she competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where she finished 12th in the qualifying round with a mark of 6 feet, 2 1/4 inches.

The 2005 NCAA high jump champion as a sophomore at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a two-time CIF State champion in the event while at Costa Mesa, Day had cleared 6-4 3/4 coming in. But she managed only to clear 5-9 3/4 on Friday, nearly four inches shy of the mark she posted at the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she finished second overall to Fontain. Day’s mark Friday was 19th-best in the field and produced 941 points.

Day managed another personal record in the next event, the shot put, producing a mark of 46-8 1/2 good for 813 points. Her mark at the trials was 43-11 3/4, so Fridays’ effort, in the event that had been her biggest nemesis, marked a significant increase. It was the seventh best mark in the field.

She completed the first day by running 24.36 in the 200 meters, seventh in her heat and 18th-best in the field. It earned her 946 points, but was slightly off the pace of her mark in the trials (24.26).

Day ran 13.71 in the hurdles at the trials, where she produced personal heptathlon records in the long jump (20-0 1/2), and the javelin (147-9) and posted a personal-best overall score of 6,343. She will hope to continue that upward trend in those events Saturday, when she will also compete in the 800 meters.

Also Friday, women’s discus thrower Seema Antil, coached by Newport Harbor High throwing guru Tony Ciarelli, just missed advancing to the 12-person final.

Antil, 29, who had been training in Orange County with Ciarelli for months, posted a mark of 203 feet, 1.4 inches.

Ranked No. 24 in the world, she was in the No. 12 position until the final round, when AmericanStephanie Brown-Traftonuncorked a throw of 212-10.72 to move into the final.

Antil’s mark was nearly two feet shy of the 204-11.44 posted byFrance’sMelina Robert-Michon, who qualified No. 12.

— From staff reports

WOMEN’S BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Newport Harbor High product April Ross and partner Jennifer Kessy won their round of 16 match in women’s beach volleyball on Friday to advance to Sunday’s quarterfinals.

Ross and Kessy, the No. 4 seeded entry, defeated the No. 11-seeded Swiss tandem of Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr, 21-15, 12-19, on Friday.

Ross, who missed seven serves and did not have an ace in Thursday’s Group D triumph, had five aces in Friday’s win. She had four service errors against the Swiss, who were eliminated.

Ross had 12 kills, seven digs and one block, while Kessy produced 14 kills, eight digs and one block.

In four matches thus far in the tournament, all victories, Ross, a first-time Olympian, has 58 kills in 94 attack opportunities (a .617 efficiency rating). She also has 10 aces, 33 digs and four blocks.

Ross and Kessy have outscored opponents, 191-164.

The Americans could meet the No. 5-seeded Brazilian duo of Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes, who are 3-0 entering Saturday’s round of 16 clash against Kristyna Kolocova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic (2-1).

Also in the round of 16 Saturday, No. 3-seeded Misty May-Treanorand Kerri Walsh Jennings (3-0) square off against Marleen Van Iersel and Sanne Keizer from the Netherlands (1-2).

Through three matches, May-Treanor, another Newport Harbor graduate, has 47 kills in 115 attack opportunities (a .409 efficiency rating), with 50 digs. She has three aces and no service errors.

— From staff reports

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

The U.S. women, including backup goalie and Corona del Mar High product Tumua Anae, as well as assistant coach Dan Klatt from UC Irvine, defeated China, 7-6, Friday to close out Group A play.

Team USA finished tied atop the group with Spain (both 2-0-1), but lost the goal-differential tiebreaker and will be the No. 2 seed from Group A. The Americans lost a 9-6 lead in the final minutes of a 9-9 tie with Spain in their group clash.

This means that if the Americans can get past Italy (1-2 in Group B) in Sunday’s quarterfinals, it would likely face Group A winner Australia, considered a gold-medal co-favorite with the U.S., in Tuesday’s semifinals.

Australia (3-0 in group play) will face China (0-3) in the quarterfinals. Spain will meet Great Britain (0-3), while Russia (2-1) faces Hungary (1-2) to round out the quarterfinals.

Italy, the 2012 European champion, lost to Australia, 10-8, in group play. It also lost to Russia, 7-4.

The Americans rallied from a sluggish start against China, which held Team USA scoreless the first 11 minutes on its way to a 3-1 lead. China led, 3-2, at halftime, but suffered its own scoreless stretch of 14 minutes to allow the Americans to pull ahead and lead, 6-3, early in the fourth quarter.

Team USA scored all three third-quarter goals. The Americans were led by Maggie Steffens, who had three goals to give her 11 for the tournament. Four other U.S. players scored one goal apiece, while goalie Betsey Armstrong made six saves.

— From staff reports

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