Olympic decathlon champion Ashton Eaton scorched the Westmont College track with the fastest 400 meters ever run by a decathlete on the first day of the Sam Adams Combined Events Invitational.
Eaton clocked 45.64, breaking the stadium record he set last year at 45.68.
Damian Warner, the Canadian decathlon champion who placed fifth at the Olympics, blistered the track in the 100 meters, posting a time of 10.34. The mark sets a new stadium record, erasing the previous record of 10.45 established by Eaton a year ago.
Warner’s mark of 7.38 meters (24-2.5) in the long jump was the best of the day. Eaton had the best mark in the shot put at 15.02 meters (49-3.5).
After the first day of competition, Gray Horn, who finished third in the decathlon at the United States Olympic Trials last summer, leads the pack with 4,019 points. Horn won the high jump event with a mark of 1.98 meters (6-6).
In second place after the first day is Derek Masterson of UC Santa Barbara with 3,783 points. Tom FitzSimons is in third place with 3,646 points.
Also competing were three Westmont decathletes. Ben McCollum is currently in tenth place with 3,051 points. Bradford Ortlund claimed twelfth place with 3,038 points and Kyle Kemper is in thirteenth place with 2,896 points.
The trio of Warriors is aiming to qualify for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in May. In order to qualify, decathletes must score 4,500 points and finish with one of the best 16 marks in the decathlon this year.
In the women’s heptathlon, Olympian Sharon Day has returned to defend her Sam Adams title from a year ago when she scored 6,337 points. Day, the 2011 U.S. heptathlon champion, is in first place after four events with 3,798 points, 47 points less than her first day total a year ago.
Day won the high jump with a stadium record 1.85 meters (6-0.75). Day and Barbara Nwaba, who is also competing in this year’s event, previously held the record at 1.84 meters (6-0.5). Day also won the shot put with a throw of 14.33 meters (47-0.25).
Brianne Thiesen, who represented Canada at the 2012 Olympics and placed eleventh, shaved a full tenth of a second off of the previous stadium record – which she owned – in the 100 meter hurdles. Thiesen ran 13.31 seconds to win the event.
Thiesen also won the 200 meter dash, posting a time of 23.85. The time was 0.28 second faster than the previous stadium record, also owned by Thiesen. Kiani Profit, representing the US Olympic Center, finished second in the event with a time of 24.12.
Profit is currently in second place in the heptathlon with a score of 3,461 points. Just behind her is Aisha Adams of the Women’s Athletic Performance Center (WAPF), which trains at Westmont. Adams totaled 3,457 points at the end of the first day.
Westmont’s Kristan Holding collected 2,411 points after four events. She will need at least 3,700 points and a finish in the top 16 among NAIA athletes to reach the Outdoor National Championships.
