MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Sophomore Tristan Faure was tied for the lead in the decathlon and senior Neal Darmody placed fourth in the 10,000-meter to lead the High Point University men’s track & field team on the first day of the Big South Outdoor Championship on Thursday at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C. High Point ranks fifth in team scoring.
Darmody placed fourth in the 10,000-meter in a time of 31:23.80, passing Liberty’s David Ricksecker in the closing laps. HPU freshman Reese Ayers made his debut in the 10K and placed sixth in 31:40.75 and senior Mike Ali took seventh in 31:40.75. Ali outkicked Gardner-Webb’s Michael McClay in the last 200 meters. Sophomore John Yankello took 10th in 31:58.14. Liberty’s N’Getich Kipchirchir pulled away from Winthrop’s Adam Freudenthal to win the race.
Faure was tied for the lead of the decathlon after the first day, totaling 3,641 points through five events along with Liberty’s Jacob DeValve. Faure began the day winning his heat with a career-best time of 11.14 in the 100-meter dash before long jumping 6.80 meters (22-3.75) on his third attempt. He threw the shot put 10.64 meters (34-11) and cleared a career-best 1.92 meters (6-3.5) in the high jump. Faure finished the day running 50.56 in the 400-meter, which was the second-best time of the day to DeValve, who finished in 50.02. VMI’s Antonio Wood – the defending champ – ranked third with 3,581 points.
In the long jump, HPU’s Max Coleman finished 19th and freshman Eric Plummer placed 20th. Coleman jumped 6.36 meters (20-10.5) and Plummer recorded a distance of 6.18 meters (20-3.5).
Liberty and Coastal Carolina both scored 27 points in the first three events – the hammer, long jump and 10,000-meter. Gardner-Webb ranked third with 17 points followed by Charleston Southern (13) and High Point (10). VMI and Winthrop tied for sixth with eight points apiece followed by eighth-place UNC Asheville (four) and Campbell (three).
The championship gets back underway on Friday at noon with Faure competing in the 110-meter hurdles of the decathlon. Nearly everyone from HPU is competing, including sophomore Evan Emery in the trials of the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes and junior Jacob Smith in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.