June 10, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -
Mateo Sossah cleared 6-9 3/4 to tie a personal record in the high jump as he tallied 4,115 points in the decathlon to lead the Tar Heel contingent on day one of the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Sossah and Daniel Keller both hold top 10 spots after the opening five events in the decathlon, while sophomore Patience Coleman will move on in the high jump final on the women's side. Action resumes Thursday at 10:30 a.m. CT with the women's discus throw.
Sossah and Keller opened the day near the back of the pack in the 100-meter dash as Sossah ran an 11.31 for 793 points, while Keller edged his teammate by .02 seconds with an 11.29 for 797 points. The duo were right back in the competition after the long jump as both scored 800-plus point scores. The high jump was where the pair shined most with Sossah leading the 25-man field with a jump of 6-9 3/4 for 878 points, while Keller cleared 6-7 1/2 for 822 points of his own.
After five events, Sossah sits in fifth place just 252 points shy of Oregon's Ashton Eaton who owns the top score through five events at 4,367. Keller has kept close the entire competition with 3,985 points.
Men Decathlon
Points 100 LJ SP HJ 400 Day1
1 Ashton Eaton 10.35 7.58m 12.57m 1.99m 46.85
Oregon w: 4.1 w: 3.5 41-03 6-06.25
JR 4367 (1011) (955) (641) (794) (966) 4367
2 Trinity Otto 10.66 7.35m 13.93m 1.90m 48.94
Texas A&M w: 4.1 w: 1.8 45-08.5 6-02.75
JR 4138 (938) (898) (724) (714) (864) 4138
3 Moritz Cleve 10.80 7.22m 14.02m 1.93m 48.42
Kansas State w: 4.1 w: 2.6 46-00 6-04
SO 4131 (906) (866) (730) (740) (889) 4131
4 Michael Ayers 10.73 7.36m 12.82m 1.99m 49.12
Tennessee w: 4.1 w: 1.9 42-00.75 6-06.25
SO 4128 (922) (900) (656) (794) (856) 4128
5 Mateo Sossah 11.31 7.30m 13.63m 2.08m 49.19
North Carolina w: 2.8 w: 4.0 44-08.75 6-09.75
SO 4115 (793) (886) (706) (878) (852) 4115
9 Daniel Keller 11.29 7.12m 13.99m 2.02m 50.40
North Carolina w: 2.8 w: 3.3 45-10.75 6-07.5
SR 3985 (797) (842) (728) (822) (796) 3985
In other men's action, Edward Baldwin III hit 24-2 1/4 in the long jump in his third and final attempt as he was unable to qualify for the finals. Baldwin's jump set a new season best for the junior from Alexandria, Va. Meanwhile in the pole vault, Parker Smith also failed to advance as his top jump of 16-8 3/4 left him shy of the finals. Smith cleared 16-2 3/4 and 16-8 3/4 with ease in his first jump at each height but was unable to clear 17-2 3/4 on any of his three attempts to earn a spot in the finals.
Sophomore All-America Patience Coleman moved on to the finals of the high jump as she was one of 15 jumpers to clear 5-9 3/4 on Wednesday. The Durham, N.C., native had it all come down to her final jump after missing at the required height on her first two attempts.
On the track, Dominique Jackson will represent the Tar Heels in the 800-meter run final after running a 2:05.76 in the prelims to punch her ticket. Jackson finished third in her heat and ran the 12th-fastest time of the 18 qualifiers for Thursday's semifinals. The women's 4x100-meter relay team was not as fortunate as their time of 44.81 placed them 14th overall.
Senior Addie Bracy had plenty of time to prepare for her prelim race in the 3000-meter steeplechase as a storm rolled into the Fayetteville, Ark. area around 7 p.m. local time delaying a number of events. Bracy was scheduled to run at 7:50 but due to the 3-hour storm delay she did not take to the track until much later in the night. The senior clocked a 10:33.45 which was good for 10th place in her heat but was not fast enough to advance Bracy to the final.
The Tar Heels return to action tomorrow as Sossah and Keller will wrap up the decathlon, while the heptathlon duo of Gabby Gioia and Alexandra Coppadge will start their quest towards scoring points for the Tar Heels.
