20070606 Track and Field Finishes Day One at NCAA Championships

University of Arizona Athletics

SACRAMENTO, Calif. ?C The University of Arizona had strong first day of competition at the 2007 NCAA Track and Field Championships, as three athletes and one relay team qualified for finals.

Reigning NCAA decathlon champion Jake Arnold began his title defense with a strong day one performance. He scored 4,070 points during the first five events, and currently finds himself in second place. Arnold is attempting to become just the second athlete in NCAA Division I history to win consecutive titles in the decathlon (George Mason's Rob Muzzio accomplished the feat in 1984-85).

Arnold had individual event marks of 11.12 in the 100 meters, 6.88m in the long jump, 14.15m in the shot put, 2.02m in the high jump and 48.38 in the 400 meters. His times in the 100 and 400 meters are both personal bests, and his score of 4,070 is a first day personal best.

Jangy Addy of Tennessee leads after day one with 4,211 points. The decathlon will continue tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. PDT.

The menˇ?s 4x100-meter relay team of Marcus Tyus, Bobby McCoy, Troy Harris and Xiong Xuehan placed seventh in the preliminary round with a time of 39.92. This was good enough to qualify the team for Fridayˇ?s finals.

The finals for the 4x100-meter relay will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

Gabriella Duclos advanced to the finals in the womenˇ?s pole vault with her preliminary clearance of 4.00m. She was one of 13 women to clear this height. Duclos had zero misses on the day, and was one of just four athletes to complete prelims miss-free.

Nikki Martin competed in the womenˇ?s 100 meters, placing 18th in the qualifying round with her time of 11.55. The semifinals were also contested on Wednesday, where Martin finished 14th (11.50). She did not advance to the finals.

In the menˇ?s discus, Adam Kuehl advanced to the finals with the No. 4 qualifying throw (59.64m). Kuehl was the NCAA runner-up in the event during the 2006 season, and has the fourth best throw in the country this year (62.53m). His mark of 59.64m was achieved on his third and final throw of prelims.

Dan Austin also competed in the discus, placing 14th with his throw of 56.07m.

On the womenˇ?s side, Kelli Burton placed 25th in the discus with her throw of 45.69m.

Obed Mutanya finished the preliminary round of the 5,000 meters in fifth place to qualify for Fridayˇ?s finals. Mutanyaˇ?s time of 13:57.38 was the fifth fastest in his heat, earning him an automatic berth in Fridayˇ?s finals.

In the womenˇ?s high jump, Jasmin Day cleared 1.70m to place 24th overall.

The 2007 NCAA Track and Field Championships will continue tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. PDT. The Wildcats will have six athletes in action on Thursday, with Arnold (decathlon), Shevell Quinley (heptathlon), Kuehl (shot put), Jarred Sola (shot put), McCoy (200 meters) and Marquita Taylor (200 meters) scheduled to compete.