Cox, Segota sweep multi-events at Pelluer Invitational
4/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Indoor Track, Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
University of Montana senior Baily Cox and freshman Christian Segota swept the heptathlon and decathlon titles Friday on the second day of the multi-events at Eastern Washington's Pelluer Invitational in Cheney, Wash. Cox rallied from a third-place standing after Thursday's day-one events, while Segota held the lead from the decathlon's opening event Thursday through the final event Friday.
The Montana women took the top three places in the heptathlon, with all three hitting the Big Sky Conference-qualifying score of 4,100. Cox finished with 4,681 points, junior Amber Aikins placed second with 4,317 points and sophomore Megan Betz was third with 4,116 points.
Cox trailed Idaho's Molly Burt and Darcy Collins after Thursday's opening four events but took control of the competition by posting the day's best long jump and javelin, the opening two events Friday. Cox went 18-0.5 in the long jump to vault past Burt and Collins, then threw the javelin 120-7 to increase her lead to 142 over Collins and 211 over Burt.
All four Idaho heptathletes scratched from the day's final event, the 800 meters, allowing Aikins and Betz to move up to second and third.
With just four athletes running the 800 meters, Cox posted the day's fastest time of 2:32.57.
Aikins had the day's third-best long jump (17-5.25) and javelin (101-06), then placed second to Cox in the 800 meters in a time of 2:38.27. Aikins' javelin throw was a career best.
After posting career bests in three of four events Thursday, Betz matched a personal best in the long jump (16-0.25) to open competition Friday, then followed with a career-best javelin throw of 84-9. She ran a 2:39.05 in her first collegiate 800 meters to finish 16 points above the Big Sky standard.
Montana took the top two spots in the decathlon, with Segota scoring 5,518 points and sophomore Chris Hicks finishing second, moving up from third after Thursday's events to finish with 5,376 points.
Segota hit the Big Sky Conference-qualifying score of 5,500. Hicks, who no-heighted in the pole vault, came up 124 points shy.
Holding a 113-point lead entering Friday's five events, Segota would allow none of the other four decathletes to get any closer the rest of the way. He posted a 16.6 in the 110-meter hurdles, 91-9 in the discus, 9-4.25 in the pole vault, 90-8 in the javelin and 5:05.17 in the 1,500 meters.
Hicks moved up to second with the day's best hurdle time (16.5) and discus throw (103-11) but no-heighted in the eighth event, the pole vault.
Hicks closed to within 179 points of Segota with a javelin throw of 155-11, then closed things out with the day's best 1,500 meter time of 4:58.79.
Griz freshman Clark Cranford, who was battling a knee injury, could only finish two of the five events Friday. He was second only to Hicks in the discus with a throw of 100-7, then had the decathlon's best javelin throw of 163-10. Cranford did not finish the hurdles and no-heighted in the pole vault, then scratched from the 1,500 meters.
DAY ONE RECAP: Segota takes opening-day lead in decathlon
University of Montana freshman Christian Segota scored 3,310 points to take the opening-day lead in the decathlon at Eastern Washington's Pelluer Invitational in Cheney, Wash., Thursday afternoon. Senior Baily Cox scored 2,715 points in the heptathlon to finish day one in third, 83 points out of first place.
Segota never trailed through the decathlon's opening five events, running a day's best 11.44 in the 100 meters to take the early lead, then closing Thursday with the top high jump (6-2.75) and 400 meters (52.36).
Eastern Washington freshman Brandon Lattin is second with 3,177 points, Montana sophomore Chris Hicks is third with 3,083 points, Seattle freshman Jude Martinez is fourth with 2,913 points and Griz freshman Clark Cranford is fifth with 2,177 points.
"It was really windy this afternoon with some swirling snow, so the conditions weren't the best," Montana multi-events coach Adam Bork said. "It was a tough day for jumping.
"Christian didn't have any huge marks, but he was solid across the board, and that's what I was hoping for."
In addition to having the best marks in three of the five events, Segota was third in the shot put (32-9.5) and tied for third in the long jump (20-5.25).
Hicks finished between first and fifth with his marks, posting the day's best shot put (34-4.25) and placing second in the long jump (20-5.75), third in the high jump (5-10), fourth in the 400 meters (52.88) and fifth in the 100 meters (12.09).
Cranford, who's battling a bad knee and had to take short approaches on the jumps, finished the first four events, then started the 400 meters before stopping after a few steps. The DNF scored zero points in the event, but by starting Cranford is eligible to continue on to Friday's final five events.
Cranford went 11.93 in the 100 meters, 17-0.75 in the long jump, 33-11.25 in the shot put and 5-8.75 in the high jump. His shot put was second only to Hicks'.
The nine heptathletes faced the same difficult conditions.
"The heptathlon got off to a rough start," Bork said. "There was a strong headwind in the hurdles, and the wind was right in their faces during the high jump. We actually had some pretty good marks considering the winds. Baily, Megan (Betz) and Amber (Aikins) were all pretty solid across the board."
Idaho's Molly Burt leads the heptathlon with 2,798 points. She is followed by teammate Darcy Collins in second with 2,732 points and Cox in third.
Betz, a sophomore, is in fifth with 2,607 points, while Aikins, a junior, is in sixth with 2,585 points.
Cox had marks of 15.91 in the 100-meter hurdles, 4-10.25 in the high jump, 37-9.5 in the shot put and 26.41 in the 200 meters. Her 200-meter time was the day's best, while her shot put ranked second.
Betz went a career-best 15.70 in the hurdles, 5-1.75 in the high jump, a career-best 34-2.25 in the shot and a career-best 28.42 in the 200 meters. She tied for second in the high jump.
Aikins went 15.04 in the hurdles, the day's fastest time, 4-9 in the high jump, 30-8.5 in the shot and 27.20 in the 200 meters.
Both multi-events will conclude Friday morning. The decathletes will compete in the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters, while the heptathletes will compete in the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
The Montana women took the top three places in the heptathlon, with all three hitting the Big Sky Conference-qualifying score of 4,100. Cox finished with 4,681 points, junior Amber Aikins placed second with 4,317 points and sophomore Megan Betz was third with 4,116 points.
Cox trailed Idaho's Molly Burt and Darcy Collins after Thursday's opening four events but took control of the competition by posting the day's best long jump and javelin, the opening two events Friday. Cox went 18-0.5 in the long jump to vault past Burt and Collins, then threw the javelin 120-7 to increase her lead to 142 over Collins and 211 over Burt.
All four Idaho heptathletes scratched from the day's final event, the 800 meters, allowing Aikins and Betz to move up to second and third.
With just four athletes running the 800 meters, Cox posted the day's fastest time of 2:32.57.
Aikins had the day's third-best long jump (17-5.25) and javelin (101-06), then placed second to Cox in the 800 meters in a time of 2:38.27. Aikins' javelin throw was a career best.
After posting career bests in three of four events Thursday, Betz matched a personal best in the long jump (16-0.25) to open competition Friday, then followed with a career-best javelin throw of 84-9. She ran a 2:39.05 in her first collegiate 800 meters to finish 16 points above the Big Sky standard.
Montana took the top two spots in the decathlon, with Segota scoring 5,518 points and sophomore Chris Hicks finishing second, moving up from third after Thursday's events to finish with 5,376 points.
Segota hit the Big Sky Conference-qualifying score of 5,500. Hicks, who no-heighted in the pole vault, came up 124 points shy.
Holding a 113-point lead entering Friday's five events, Segota would allow none of the other four decathletes to get any closer the rest of the way. He posted a 16.6 in the 110-meter hurdles, 91-9 in the discus, 9-4.25 in the pole vault, 90-8 in the javelin and 5:05.17 in the 1,500 meters.
Hicks moved up to second with the day's best hurdle time (16.5) and discus throw (103-11) but no-heighted in the eighth event, the pole vault.
Hicks closed to within 179 points of Segota with a javelin throw of 155-11, then closed things out with the day's best 1,500 meter time of 4:58.79.
Griz freshman Clark Cranford, who was battling a knee injury, could only finish two of the five events Friday. He was second only to Hicks in the discus with a throw of 100-7, then had the decathlon's best javelin throw of 163-10. Cranford did not finish the hurdles and no-heighted in the pole vault, then scratched from the 1,500 meters.
DAY ONE RECAP: Segota takes opening-day lead in decathlon
University of Montana freshman Christian Segota scored 3,310 points to take the opening-day lead in the decathlon at Eastern Washington's Pelluer Invitational in Cheney, Wash., Thursday afternoon. Senior Baily Cox scored 2,715 points in the heptathlon to finish day one in third, 83 points out of first place.
Segota never trailed through the decathlon's opening five events, running a day's best 11.44 in the 100 meters to take the early lead, then closing Thursday with the top high jump (6-2.75) and 400 meters (52.36).
Eastern Washington freshman Brandon Lattin is second with 3,177 points, Montana sophomore Chris Hicks is third with 3,083 points, Seattle freshman Jude Martinez is fourth with 2,913 points and Griz freshman Clark Cranford is fifth with 2,177 points.
"It was really windy this afternoon with some swirling snow, so the conditions weren't the best," Montana multi-events coach Adam Bork said. "It was a tough day for jumping.
"Christian didn't have any huge marks, but he was solid across the board, and that's what I was hoping for."
In addition to having the best marks in three of the five events, Segota was third in the shot put (32-9.5) and tied for third in the long jump (20-5.25).
Hicks finished between first and fifth with his marks, posting the day's best shot put (34-4.25) and placing second in the long jump (20-5.75), third in the high jump (5-10), fourth in the 400 meters (52.88) and fifth in the 100 meters (12.09).
Cranford, who's battling a bad knee and had to take short approaches on the jumps, finished the first four events, then started the 400 meters before stopping after a few steps. The DNF scored zero points in the event, but by starting Cranford is eligible to continue on to Friday's final five events.
Cranford went 11.93 in the 100 meters, 17-0.75 in the long jump, 33-11.25 in the shot put and 5-8.75 in the high jump. His shot put was second only to Hicks'.
The nine heptathletes faced the same difficult conditions.
"The heptathlon got off to a rough start," Bork said. "There was a strong headwind in the hurdles, and the wind was right in their faces during the high jump. We actually had some pretty good marks considering the winds. Baily, Megan (Betz) and Amber (Aikins) were all pretty solid across the board."
Idaho's Molly Burt leads the heptathlon with 2,798 points. She is followed by teammate Darcy Collins in second with 2,732 points and Cox in third.
Betz, a sophomore, is in fifth with 2,607 points, while Aikins, a junior, is in sixth with 2,585 points.
Cox had marks of 15.91 in the 100-meter hurdles, 4-10.25 in the high jump, 37-9.5 in the shot put and 26.41 in the 200 meters. Her 200-meter time was the day's best, while her shot put ranked second.
Betz went a career-best 15.70 in the hurdles, 5-1.75 in the high jump, a career-best 34-2.25 in the shot and a career-best 28.42 in the 200 meters. She tied for second in the high jump.
Aikins went 15.04 in the hurdles, the day's fastest time, 4-9 in the high jump, 30-8.5 in the shot and 27.20 in the 200 meters.
Both multi-events will conclude Friday morning. The decathletes will compete in the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters, while the heptathletes will compete in the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
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