Day aims for liftoff today in Germany

Sharon Day embarks on new territory. Her country returns to a stadium in which it last competed in 1936.

The 2002 Costa Mesa High graduate is competing for Team USA in both the women’s heptathlon and high jump at the 12th IAAF World Outdoor Championships, which start today and end on Aug. 23 in Berlin, Germany.

Day and her teammates are going to be part of the first major international event to be held at the Berlin Olympic Stadium since the 1936 Olympic Games.

Day qualified after her strong performance at the USA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. in June. Day placed second in the heptathlon with a personal-best score of 6,177 points. She finished third in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 4 3/4 inches.

In five of the seven events in the heptathlon in Eugene, Day recorded five personal bests. She also turned 24 in June.

Before leaving for Berlin, Day talked to a local TV station in San Luis Obispo. Day went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she earned the school’s Female Athlete of the Year honor in 2008.

“It’s a lot more strenuous,” Day told KSBY-TV about competing in the heptathlon and high jump. “But I think that my training has definitely prepared me for both. So I’m ready to get out there and see what I can do.”

Day had been training with Cal Poly Coach Jack Hoyt.

Day told the station she wants to post her top score and finish in the top 10 in the heptathlon, and make the high jump final.

“I’m still new at this,” Day told the station. “I’m still learning. So I just want to go out there and have fun and enjoy what I’m doing.”

The first two days of the World Championships are scheduled to be broadcasted on NBC, followed by Versus for six days, and coverage returns to NBC for the final two days.

Day is scheduled to compete today in the heptathlon at 1:10 a.m. and in the high jump at 2:20 a.m.

— From staff reports