The men and women’s track and field team saw a successful first day of competition Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa, at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
For the men, sophomore Marcus Nilsson had a strong opening performance in the decathlon. For the first event, he achieved a lifetime best of 11.12 seconds in the 100 meter dash.
This mark placed him 14th in the competition out of 23 athletes. Next was the long jump in which he posted 22-8, earning him 10th place for that event.
In the shot put, Nilsson earned a mark of 41-10.50 feet, coming in 15th. He then set a personal record in the high jump, with a clearance of 6-7.50 feet. This mark earned him fifth for the high jump.
The last event of the day for Nilsson was the 400m, in which Nilsson set a season-best with a time of 49.69.
His strong performances ranks him ninth place overall. The decathlon finishes today with the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500m dash.
Sophomore Matthew Kosecki competed for the Bruins in the discus. He threw a mark of 189-5 earning him No. 10 place overall and second team All-American honors.
The men’s 4×100m team, comprised of senior Jamal Alston, junior Maxwell Dyce, sophomore R.J. Frasier and freshman Laijon White, placed seventh overall with a time of 40.01.
For the women, junior Turquoise Thompson had one of the best showings of her career.
Thompson earned the top spot in her heat and the top spot overall in the 400m hurdles with a mark of 55.59. She will compete in the finals on June 8.
Today, the competition continues with redshirt freshman Derek Eager for the javelin, sophomore Ida Storm for the hammer throw, freshman Kylie Price for the long jump and Dyce for the 200m semifinals.
On Friday, sophomores Alec Faldermeyer and Mike Woepse will compete in their respective events, the hammer throw and pole vault. Both Faldermeyer and Woepse are expected to perform very well.
This would be the fourth NCAA honor of Faldermeyer’s career and Woepse is going into the championships with the top-ranked vault in the nation.
Compiled by Michelle Epps, Bruin Sports contributor.