With 18 points in the long jump, three more were scored by a seventh place for Jordan West in the shot put and an eighth place for Patrick Kiprop in the 10,000m.
In the third round of the shot put West moved from 12th to sixth position with his best mark of the competition to earn another three rounds of throws. The toss of 65-8.25 (20.02) ended up seventh when Ohio State’s Hayden Tobias passed West in the final round with a 66-5.75 (20.26).
Arizona’s Jordan Geist won the shot put with a toss of 69-1.25 (21.06) after earning bronze in the hammer event with a throw of 249-3 (75.97). Arkansas’ Rojé Stona placed 14 with a mark of 63-10.5 (19.47). Stona will compete in the discus with teammate Ralford Mullings on Friday.
Kiprop posted a time of 28:27.54 for eighth place in the 10,000m, one spot ahead of Alabama’s Victor Kiprop, who clocked 28:29.28 for ninth. The Stanford combo of Ky Robinson (28:10.96) and Charles Hicks (28:12.20) went 1-2 while BYU’s Casey Clinger (28:13.63) finished third.
Semifinal action for the Razorbacks had some mixed results.
Arkansas advanced to the final in the 4 x 400 relay with a semifinal heat winning time of 3:00.97 from the Razorback foursome of Lance Lang (46.18), James Benson II (44.11), Connor Washington (46.11), and Chris Bailey (44.37).
Georgia finished behind Arkansas with a 3:01.51 while Oklahoma was third in 3:01.85 and didn’t advance.
A total of five schools run under 3 minutes to advance while the two time qualifiers were Baylor (3:00.58) and Texas A&M (3:00.88). Florida, collegiate record holders, led the field with a 2:58.62.
The other schools advancing include Arizona State (2:59.14), Alabama (2:59.24), UCLA (2:59.51), and Clemson (2:59.78).
Phillip Lemonious led the 110m hurdle field with a 13.28 (1.1 wind), just off his career best of 13.21. Lemonious won the third heat over a 13.35 for Clemson’s Giano Roberts. The second best time in the field was a 13.33 for Texas A&M’s Connor Schulman.
The first day of the decathlon finds Yariel Soto Torrado tied for fourth place with a score of 4,266 points to match Iowa’s Austin West. The leader after day one is Leo Neugebauer of Texas with 4,591 points while Georgia’s Kyle Garland is second at 4,570 points. Razorback Daniel Spejcher is currently 18th with 3,877 points.
Soto Torrado opened with a 10.77 in the 100m (912 points, then set a career best long jump of 25-1.75 (7.66) to add 975 points. A shot put of 45-10.75 (13.99) followed for 728 points, and a high jump of 6-4.75 (1.95) added 758 more. Closing out the first day with the 400m, Soto Torrado ran a season best of 48.34 for 893 points.
Bailey missed advancing in the 400m as his 45.55 placed him fourth in the opening heat and 14th overall.
Ayden Owens-Delerme also missed advancing in the 400m hurdles as he finished fourth in his heat with a 49.82 that was 10th overall. The last time qualifier was 49.57. Also not advancing was LSU’s Sean Burrell, the two-time defending national champion, who posted a 49.84 to place fourth in the first heat.
In the 4 x 100m relay semifinal Arkansas produced a season best of 39.23 to finish sixth in the first heat. The foursome included Lance Lang, Connor Washington, Tre’Bien Gilbert, and James Benson II. The Razorbacks were 19th overall among the field of 24.
The nine schools advancing to the final are collegiate record holders LSU (38.06), Texas Tech (38.20), Florida (38.22), Florida State (38.27), Louisville (38.49), Alabama State (38.56), Georgia (38.62), Iowa (38.64), and Arizona State (38.67).
