Athletics: Clay to compete in heptathlon, Schiemenz in pentathlon at World Indoors

Two-time USA decathlon runner-up Bryan Clay has been invited by the IAAF to compete in the men’s heptathlon at the 2004 World Indoor Championships March 5-7 in Budapest, Hungary, the IAAF announced Thursday. 2003 USA Outdoor heptathlon runner-up Kim Schiemenz will compete in the women’s pentathlon.

The 2000 NAIA champion and 1999 USA junior champion, Clay finished second in the decathlon behind reigning world indoor and outdoor champion Tom Pappas at the 2002 and 2003 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Clay’s score of 8,482 points at the 2003 USA Championships was a personal record.

Schiemenz had the best finish of her career at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships, placing second in the heptathlon. She posted her personal best of 6,209 in Greeley, Colo., in 2003.

Pappas will forgo defending his World Indoor heptathlon title in order to prepare for the outdoor track & field season. Pappas, 27, had minor surgery on his right shoulder January 27 to remove cartilage. The gold-medal favorite for the Olympic Games reports that he is training at full strength, but did not want to risk possible injury by competing too early.

“I’m doing everything I normally do,” Pappas said. “The only thing I’ve had to go easy on is the pole vault. I could probably do it, but it’s not worth setting myself up for a fall in case the shoulder isn’t quite ready.”

Although Pappas will not compete at World Indoors, he will participate in the 2004 USA Indoor Combined Events Championships March 6-7 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Pappas will compete in six of the seven heptathlon events, skipping the pole vault.

For full bios of Bryan Clay, Kim Schiemenz and Tom Pappas, visit the athlete bios section of www.usatf.org. For more information on the USA Indoor Combined Events Championships and World Indoor Championships, visit the Events section of www.usatf.org.