STARKVILLE, Miss. – Making her 2015 indoor track and field season debut, senior Erica Bougard captures first place in the pentathlon at the Samford Multi Invitational.
"Erica had a great day to start the season," MSU coach Steve Dudley said. "She's been working hard and has been ready to get back into action. All of our atheltes who competed gave a lot of effort and it paid off. I hope we can carry the momentum from today intotomorrow's events."
Bougard brought home the win after earning 4,419 points. She started the day recording a new personal best in the 60-meter hurdles of 8.27. She went on to place first in the high jump after clearing 5-09.75 earning 941 points.
Bougard also finished first in the long jump with a leap of 20-08.50. In the shot put, Bougard threw for a distance of 39-00.25 to finish second. She collected her last win of the day in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.97 to clinch her victory in the pentathlon.
Junior Ste'yce McNeil competed alongside of Bougard in the pentathlon and earned fourth place with a total of 3,470 points. McNeil ran a time of 8.82 for 948 points in the 60-meter hurdles.
She had a clearance of 4-11 in the high jump and a toss of 32-08.25 in the shot put. McNeil went on to make a leap of 17-00.75 in the long jump. To finish the day, McNeil ran a time of 2:24.77 to place third in the 800-meter run.
On the men’s side, Jaquarius Wilson, Zachary Taylor and Jesse Austin competed in the heptathlon. Day one events consisted of the 60-meter dash, the long jump, the shot put and the high jump.
Wilson goes into day two in first place with 2,866 points. In the 60-meter dash, Wilson ran a time of 7.25 to earn 796 points. The Olive Branch, Miss., native had a leap of 22-06.25 to garner 781 points. With a toss of 39-01.75 in the shot put, Wilson earned anther 502 points. The sophomore capped day one with a clearance of 6-01.50 in the high jump.
Taylor immediately follows Wilson in second place after earning a total of 2,753 points. Taylor started his day with a victory in the 60-meter dash after running a time of 7.10 earning him 847 points. He went on to have a leap of 22-03 in the long jump and a toss of 34-00.25 in the shot put. In the high jump, the Rock Hill, S.C., native had a clearance of 5-11.25 to earn 636 points.
Totaling 2,347 points, Austin concluded day one in seventh place. He had a time of 7.56 in the 60-meter dash and a leap of 19-07 in the long jump. Austin went on to have a toss of 31-07.25 in the shot put to earn 463 points. To finish competition on day one, Austin cleared 5-10 in the high jump.
Austin, Taylor and Wilson will return to action tomorrow in Birmingham, Ala., to finish the heptathlon. Tomorrow’s events include the 60-meter hurdles, the pole vault and the 1000-meter run.
