Betz and Hicks take early multi-event leads
4/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Outdoor Track, Women's Track and Field
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Juniors Megan Betz and Chris Hicks each grabbed opening-day leads in the heptathlon and decathlon at the Montana Open multi-events on a cool, sunny Thursday afternoon at Dornblaser Field in Missoula. Both multi-events will conclude Friday afternoon, with the main Montana Open meet taking place Saturday.
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Betz scored 2,839 points through the opening four events of the heptathlon, taking the lead over her four teammates. Freshman Melissa Mauro trails in second with 2,672 points, junior Danica Bates is in third with 2,604 points, freshman Asia Graham is in fourth with 2,415 points and freshman Jessica Leslie is in fifth with 2,296 points.
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The heptathletes will have the long jump, javelin and 800 meters Friday to reach the Big Sky Conference qualifying standard of 4,100 points.
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???Across the board I think everyone came out and put up some good marks,??? multi-events coach Adam Bork said about the heptathlon. ???Everybody???s sitting in pretty good position to get qualified.
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???We trained through this week with some hard efforts on Monday and Tuesday, so we???re not nearly as fresh as we could be, and we haven???t spent a ton of time yet in some of the events because of the weather, so I???m happy with all these marks.???
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Betz had the best opening day of her career, posting outdoor career bests in three of four events. She opened with the day???s fastest 100-meter hurdles, running a career-best 15.20, then went 5-1.75 in the high jump. She just missed on her final attempt at 5-3.
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Betz beat the rest of the field by over three feet in the shot put, posting an outdoor career-best distance of 36-0.75. She finished off her day with a career-best 26.80 in the 200 meters.
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Betz???s career-best heptathlon score of 4,134 was set at last spring???s Big Sky Conference championships. She had a day-one score of 2,642 at that meet, 197 less than Thursday???s effort.
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???I came in with a positive attitude today and had a really good feeling,??? Betz said after the 200 meters. ???It???s definitely nice competing at home, even if we didn???t have any outside competition. It???s only going to help us down the road because this is where conference is.
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???We???ve been doing a lot of technique work, and Adam???s really been pushing us with some hard workouts these last few weeks between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
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???I was aggressive right from the start today in the hurdles, I high-jumped pretty well and I was able to stay relaxed in the shot. Nobody likes running the 200, but I think we all had pretty good times.???
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Mauro stumbled over a hurdle midway through the opening event and finished nearly a second and a half off her usual hurdles time, but she came back to post the day???s best height in the high jump (5-3) and the day???s fastest 200 meters (26.35).
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Mauro and Leslie, who both competed in the pentathlon during the indoor season, are competing in their first collegiate heptathlon, while Graham is competing in her first collegiate multi-events.
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Senior James Brown joined the decathletes in the day???s opening event, the 100 meters, then it was Hicks, junior Michael Blanchard and sophomore Evan Stokken through the remaining four events.
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Blanchard will miss Friday???s events for an ROTC commitment, leaving just Hicks and Stokken for the final five events.
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Hicks scored 3,435 points Thursday to take a 318-point lead over Stokken, who scored 3,117 points in his first collegiate multi-events. Blanchard scored 3,013 points.
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Hicks and Blanchard have both posted Big Sky-qualifying decathlon scores. Hicks scored 5,769 points in Mesa, Ariz., last month, while Blanchard scored 5,704 points last month in Spokane, Wash.
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Both have day-one totals beyond what they scored last month. Hicks posted a 3,200 and Blanchard a 2,946.
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???The biggest thing I saw today with Chris and Mike is that they???re getting better in all their events across the board from their decathlons last month,??? Bork said. ???Both their 100s were faster, their long jumps were better, their shot puts were good, their high jumps were good and their 400s were pretty good.
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???They had hard workouts Monday and Tuesday, so they weren???t feeling really fresh today, but they???re both getting a lot better technically. And we didn???t have any big letdowns from anybody, which is the biggest key to success in decathlon.???
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Hicks had marks better than last month???s decathlon in four of five events Thursday, including a huge career best in the shot put. Outside of finishing second to the interloping Brown in the 100 meters, Hicks had the day???s top mark in every event.
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???Chris wanted to be closer to 3,500 today, but with the workouts we???ve done this week I???m not surprised he didn???t quite reach it,??? Bork said. ???He wanted to go a little higher in the high jump and run a little bit faster 400, but he???s still on pace to get close to 6,900 by tomorrow, which would give him the best mark in the conference.???
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Hicks, who was second in the decathlon at last spring???s Big Sky championships, ran an 11.70 in the 100 meters, then approached a career best in the long jump with a third-jump effort of 21-10.25. He went 39-5.25 in the shot put, a career best by over three feet, then posted marks of 6-0.5 in the high jump and 52.09 in the 400 meters.
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???I think the difference between today and the meet in Arizona was just the mental side of things,??? Hicks said after running the 400 meters. ???Coming into the outdoor season, especially early down in Arizona, I wasn???t really watching a lot of video and I wasn???t really mentally prepared.
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???I???ve rethought a lot of the things that happened in Arizona. Since then I???ve been watching a lot of video and going through a lot more visualization to become more comfortable with every event. It???s just increased confidence that came through today.???
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Stokken placed just behind Hicks in four of Thursday???s five events. His 3,117 points have him on his way to hitting the Big Sky Conference qualifying standard of 5,500 points.
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Stokken went 11.72 in the 100 meters, 20-6.25 in the long jump, 34-5.75 in the shot, 5-8.75 in the high jump and 53.32 in the 400 meters.
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???This was the first time Evan has ever tried this, and his marks were solid through every event,??? Bork said about the hurdler. ???He???s going to be very comfortable opening tomorrow with the (110-meter) hurdles and he should be fine in the other events.???
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The decathlon starts at noon Friday and will feature the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters. The heptathlon starts at 12:15 p.m. and will close with the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
