BERKELEY, California – Donovan Kilmartin and Julie Pickler are the leaders after Tuesday’s first day of competition at the 2002 USA Junior Combined Events National Championships at the University of California’s Edwards Stadium/Goldman Field in Berkeley, California.

A resident of Meridian, Idaho and a junior at Eagle High School in Eagle, Idaho, Kilmartin leads the decathlon with 3,949 points. He holds a commanding lead over Robert Bates, who is in second place with 3,675 points, and Justin Palmer, who sits in third place with 3,588 points. The University of South Carolina’s Greg Royster is fourth with 3,482 points, and Justin Smith is in fifth place with 3,441 points. Bates, Palmer and Smith are all competing unattached.

Kilmartin is making his first ever appearance at the USA Junior Championships as the 2001 USATF Junior Olympics Nationals gold medalist, winning last year’s event with a national youth record score of 7,405 points. In the same meet, Kilmartin also won his division in the pole vault with a clearance of 5.00 meters/16 feet, 4.75 inches. After competing in the decathlon, Kilmartin also will compete in the pole vault later this week at the USA Junior Championships at Stanford University in Palo Alto.

“I did a good job of hitting all of my marks today and I’m a little bit ahead of where I thought I’d be,” said Kilmartin. “I’m really happy with my high jump today (2.08 meters/6 feet, 9.75 inches). I want to come out strong tomorrow in the 110m hurdles and get off to a good start, which will be a big key for me.”

In the women’s hepathlon, Julie Pickler holds a narrow lead over her sister Diana going into the second day of competition on Wednesday. Both members of the Texas Express (Sasche), Julie tallied 3,261 points on Tuesday, while sister Diana finished with 3,249 points. “I’m ahead of my first day personal record, (3,208 points) which is always good,” Julie Pickler said. “The high jump went really well for me today. I set a new PR of (1.67m) 5 feet, 5.75 inches. I’ve never beaten my sister in the heptathlon. Maybe this will be the time, but I don’t worry about that. I just want to come out here and do my best and hopefully that will be enough to win.”

The defending U.S. Junior heptathlon champion, Diana Pickler is looking to overtake her sister with a strong performance on Wednesday. “I enjoy competing against my sister,” she said. “We do it every day in practice so we’re accustomed to it. Today’s competition is nothing new. We’re always close to each other after the first day.” Vanderbilt University’s Josie Hahn is third with 3,218 points and the University of Miami’s Amber Williams is fourth with 3,134 points. Liberty University’s Danielle McNan is fifth with 3,087 points.

Along with the completion of the USA Junior Combined Events National Championships, tomorrow Edwards Stadium will host the first day of the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships multi-events competition featuring top stars Dan O’Brien, Tom Pappas, Shelia Burrell and DeDee Nathan.

For more information about the 2002 USA Outdoor Championships, including the full results from Tuesday’s first day of the USA Junior Combined Events National Championships, visit www.usatf.org.