Ocean Rideout competed in her first-ever heptathlon on May 13 during the Big Sky Outdoor Championships at Mt. Hood Community College’s Earl L. Klapstein Stadium in Gresham, Oregon.
Rideout finished the first day of competition in 16th place with a total of 2,566 points. If she matches her per-event score on Thursday, she could enter the all-time top ten at Portland State after only one attempt at the heptathlon.
Rideout began her day by running the 100-meter hurdles in 16.25 seconds, which was just a tenth of a second off her overall best and earned her a spot as tenth all-time for Portland State in that event within the heptathlon. In the high jump, she cleared five feet for the first time—5-00.50 (1.54 meters)—moving up to seventh all-time among Portland State athletes in that event during a heptathlon.
In shot put, an event new to Rideout, she threw for a distance of 26-05.00 (8.05 meters). She ended her day with her strongest performance: finishing sixth in the 200 meters with a time of 25.82 seconds and scoring her highest single-event total of 813 points.
The second day of competition is scheduled to begin Thursday at 11 a.m., starting with long jump followed by javelin and then concluding with the 800 meters later that afternoon. The long jump is expected to be one of Rideout’s strongest events based on previous performances.
