Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Deacon Combined Events
Nelson Leads Heptathlon After First Day of Deacon Combined Events
5/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
May 12, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Lela V. Nelson and Brent LaRue, who is competing for the first time since suffering a leg injury last month, both turned in solid opening days of the 2009 Deacon Combined Events Classic at Kentner Stadium.
Nelson is the leader in the women's heptathlon after a very strong first day with 3,612 points. She started off with a second place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.61 and then turned in a wonderful performance in the high jump. She cleared 5-10.50 and then had three great attempts at her personal-best of 5-11.50 but just clipped the bar on all three tries. Her mark of 5-10.50 was good enough to win the event.
Nelson finished the day by edging junior Caroline Vaughn at the line to win the 200-meter race with a good time of 24.16.
Vaughn, who also had herself a very good day, started off by winning the 100-meter hurdles in a personal-best and school-record time of 13.43. That mark also betters her NCAA regional qualifying time. She then jumped a personal-best in the high jump, clearing 5-01 and stood sixth after two events.
Vaughn then notched a season-best mark of 26-05.50 in the shot put and finished the evening with a personal-best time of 24.19 in the 200-meter dash. She starts day 2 in fifth place with 3,104 points.
Samantha Howell had good start to her day, notching a personal-best in each of the first two events. She crossed the line in 16.28 in the 100-meter hurdles and cleared 5-04.50 in the high jump. She then posted a mark of 30-00.25 in the shot put and capped the night with a time of 27.85 in the 200-meter dash. Howell will start the second day in tenth place with 2,580 points.
On the men's side, junior Brent LaRue returned from his leg injury with a good showing on Tuesday and is currently in third place with 3,923 points. Classmate Tyler Dodds is close behind in fourth with 3,767 day one points.
Dodds came out of the gate fast, winning the 100-meter dash in a time of 10.84 and then jumped a personal-best 22-10.75 in the long jump. He took the early lead after two events with 1,706 points.
LaRue started with an 11.03 run in the 100-meter dash and he too jumped a personal-best of 22-10.75 in the long jump. LaRue then had a strong showing in the shot put, recording a mark of 40-04.75 to move into third place through three events.
In the high jump, LaRue cleared 6-02.25 while Dodds notched 5-09.75 leading up to the final race of the day, the 400-meter dash.
LaRue was close to his personal-best in the event, running 47.58, which was only .13 of a second off his previous top time. He finished second in the race while Dodds crossed the line with a personal-best 48.42 to take fourth.
Charles Klug (11.42), Trey Blanton (11.65) and Aaron Payne (11.66) all turned in season-best performances in the 100-meter dash to start the day off right.
Payne followed that with a season-best jump of 20-05.00 in the long jump while Blanton turned in a mark of 20-00.50 and Klug was at 18-00.25.
Klug then had season-best performances in both the shot put (29-01.75) and the high jump (5-02.50) before closing with another season-best of 54.63 in the 400-meters.
Payne finished with a jump of 6-02.25 in the high jump and a solid 54.24 in the 400-meters to end with 3,114 points and currently stands seventh.
Blanton ended the first day in tenth place with a total of 2,898 points.
Former Wisconsin All-American Joe Detmer used a solid run in the 400-meter dash to take the lead after the first day of the decathlon with 3,964 points. He leads Clemson's Moss Miller by just eight points.
The final day of the competition will be Wednesday afternoon. The decathlon will get underway around 1:00 pm followed by the conclusion of the heptathlon starting at 3:00 pm.
Players Mentioned
