University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Ayers Fourth After Day One of NCAA Decathlon
June 10, 2009 | Men's Track
June 10, 2009
Tennessee sophomore Michael Ayers sits in fourth place with a lifetime-best 4,128 points through five events of the NCAA decathlon, held Wednesday and Thursday at John McDonnell field on the campus of the University of Arkansas. Ayers posted his best-ever first day on the strength of lifetime-best performances in the 100m, 400m and long jump. Oregon's Ashton Eaton leads after day one with 4,367 points.
"I was really focused," the Nashville, Tenn., native said. "After not doing as well as I wanted at the SEC meet, I kept my training the same but I wanted to come in with better concentration. It paid off with a good first day. I'm only halfway through though. I've got five events to go and I need to keep this up."
Ayers opened the day with a lifetime-best sprint of 10.73 in the 100m, improving on his previous top time by .13 seconds and finishing with the fourth-fastest time among all competitors. He immediately followed that PR with another one in the long jump, leaping 7.36m (24-1.75) to post the third best jump overall. His previous best was 7.01m (23-0).
Ayers managed only an outdoor season best in the third event of the day, posting a throw of 12.82m (42-0.75) in the shot put to finish 15th in the field. Another season-best mark of 1.99m (6-6.25) in the high jump was good enough for seventh in the 25-man field.
In the final event of the day, Ayers circled the track in a lifetime-best clocking of 49.12, which was the sixth fastest time among all competitors. He improved on his previous top 400m time by just less than half a second.
UT's five athletes in individual event competition did not fair as well in their endeavors. Junior Evander Wells clocked a time of 10.39 in the prelims of the 100m, finishing 21st and failing to earn a semifinal spot.
The Vols' two freshmen 800m specialists suffered a similar fate. Joseph Franklin ran 1:49.19 to finish 20th, while Emerson Peacock crossed the finish line in 1:52.61 to finish 26th. Neither effort was fast enough to advance into the semifinals.
In field event action, senior Nick Panezich saw his collegiate career end with a 16th-place finish in the prelims of the shot put with a top throw of 18.07m (59-3.5). Sophomore Joseph Berry finished 25th in pole vault qualifying at 4.95m (16-2.75).
"Mike Ayers was the highlight of the day for us," Tennessee head coach Bill Webb said. "He is competing at a very high level and has himself in a position to score after a strong first five events. I'm disappointed with how our qualifying efforts came out. We had a rough day, competed hard but came up short."
Ayers resumes competition in the decathlon at 3:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. Charlton Rolle will look for better results than his teammates in the first round of the 110m hurdles at 6:50 p.m. Akeem Hardnett does not compete in the triple jump until Friday.
| TENNESSEE RESULTS | |||
| Decathlon - Day One | |||
| 1. | Ashton Eaton | Oregon | 4,367 |
| 4. | Michael Ayers | Tennessee | 4,128 |
| Decathlon: 100 Meter Dash | |||
| 1. | Ashton Eaton | Oregon | 10.35 1011 |
| 3. | Michael Ayers | Tennessee | 10.73 922 |
| Decathlon: Long Jump | |||
| 1. | Ashton Eaton | Oregon | 7.58m 24-10.50 955 |
| 4. | Michael Ayers | Tennessee | 7.36m 24-01.75 900 |
| Decathlon: Shot Put | |||
| 1. | Lars Rise | Missouri | 15.94m 52-03.75 848 |
| 15. | Michael Ayers | Tennessee | 12.82m 42-00.75 656 |
| Decathlon: High Jump | |||
| 1. | Mateo Sossah | North Carolina | 2.08m 6-09.75 878 |
| 7. | Michael Ayers | Tennessee | 1.99m 6-06.25 794 |
| Decathlon: 400 Meter Dash | |||
| 1. | Ashton Eaton | Oregon | 46.85 966 |
| 6. | Michael Ayers | Tennessee | 49.12 856 |
| 100 Meter Dash - Prelims | |||
| 1. | Trindon Holliday | LSU | 10.00Q 1.4 |
| 21. | Evander Wells | Tennessee | 10.39 0.9 |
| 800 Meter Run - Prelims | |||
| 1. | Ryan Foster | Penn State | 1:47.57Q |
| 20. | Joe Franklin | Tennessee | 1:49.19 |
| 26. | Emerson Peacock | Tennessee | 1:52.61 |
| Pole Vault - Prelims | |||
| 1. | Jason Colwick | Rice | 5.35mq 17-06.50 |
| 25. | Joe Berry | Tennessee | 4.95m 16-02.75 |
| Shot Put - Prelims | |||
| 1. | Ryan Whiting | Arizona State | 20.91mq 68-07.25 |
| 16. | Nick Panezich | Tennessee | 18.07m 59-03.50 |
