Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Deacon Combined Events
Nelson Wins Heptathlon At The Deacon Combined Events Classic
5/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
May 13, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - On a perfect sunny afternoon at Kentner Stadium, former NCAA Champion and current Wake Forest volunteer assistant coach Lela V. Nelson used a solid showing in the long jump and a strong performance in the 800-meter run to win the heptathlon at the 2009 Deacon Combined Events Classic.
Nelson's total of 5,898 points was over 270 points better than former Boston College standout and 2008 ACC Heptathlon Champion Kasey Hill, who finished second.
In the men's decathlon, former Wisconsin All-American Joe Detmer ran a Kentner decathlon record 4:10.66 in the 1,500-meters to run away with the title. His point total of 7,760 bested Clemson's Miller Moss, who finished runner-up with 7,323 points.
Nelson opened the day with a jump of 19-08.25 to win the long jump. She then took second in the javelin throw with a mark of 126-05 before closing with a very good 800-meter time of 2:22.00.
Junior Caroline Vaughn finished the heptathlon with a personal-best total of 5,038 points and took sixth overall. She tied her personal-best mark of 18-05.75 in the long jump to open the day and then closed the day by winning the 800-meter run in a blazing personal-best time of 2:16.82.
Freshman Samantha Howell finished her first heptathlon with a total of 3,822 points.
On the men's side, freshman Trey Blanton was the top Demon Deacon finisher with a total of 5,902 points. He cleared 14-10 in the pole vault and then turned in a nice mark of 162-02 in the javelin before closing with a 5:05.81 in the 1,500-meters.
Charles Klug completed nine of the ten events and finished tenth with a total of 4,390 points. Junior Tyler Dodds ran a 16.56 in the 110-meter hurdles and then cleared a season-best 13-06.25 in the pole vault but did not compete in the final two events. Dodds finished seventh overall with a total of 5,389 points.
Junior Brent LaRue had a very solid opening day but re-aggravated his hamstring injury early on in the 110-meter hurdle race, which was the first event of the day. He was forced to pull out of the competition at that point.
Aaron Payne was the only other Demon Deacon in the competition but he did not compete in any events on the second day after scoring 3,114 points on day one.
Some of the multi-event athletes will join the rest of the team this weekend at the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta, Ga., for a final tune-up before the NCAA Regional meet on May 29-30.
Players Mentioned
