March 26, 2010

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ---- Freshman multi-event athlete Bo Ackerson-Gilroy led Samford in the decathlon after the first two days of the Alabama Relays. Thursday and Friday's action consisted of the women's heptathlon and men's decathlon. All four Bulldog men placed in the top ten while sophomore Christian McGuire was the only Samford woman of three to place in the top ten of the heptathlon.

Ackerson-Gilroy set personal bests in every event except for discus as he finished fifth overall in the men's decathlon with 6320 points. He started out on Thursday with 100-meter dash and finished 14th with a personal best of 11.82. Next was the long jump where he placed fourth with a personal best of 21-6.75 followed by a sixth place finish in the shot put with a personal best of 37-03. He placed second in the high jump with a personal best of 6-04.75, and ran a personal best of 55.67 in the 400-meter dash which earned him 14th place.

On Friday, he placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a personal best of 15.75 and followed that up with a toss of 84-10 in the discus. He won the pole vault with a personal best of 15-07.25 followed by a fifth place finish in the javelin with a personal best of 166-08 and a ninth place finish in the 1500 meters with a personal best of 5:05.04.

Chas Keithan finished sixth (6205) in the event marking personal bests in three of the events. On Thursday, he placed 19th in the 100 meters with a personal best of 12.07 followed by a 13th place finish in the long jump with a personal best of 19-08.25. He placed 16th in the shot put (28-03.50) and tied for ninth in the high jump (5-10.75) before finishing the day out with a fifth place finish in the 400 meters (51.89).

On Friday, he placed 13th in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.62 and had a toss of 103-01 in the discus before posting a personal best of 14-03.25 in the pole vault. He finished the day out with a personal best of 51.19 and fourth place in the javelin and first place in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:14.98.

Donald Cooper placed seventh in the event with a personal best 6158 points. He started out the competition with a second place finish in the 100-meter dash (11.11) before taking sixth in the long jump (20-10.75). He posted a personal best in the shot put with a personal best mark of 33-04.50 while tying for third place in the high jump (6-02.25) and second in the 400-meter dash (49.90).

In the second half of the competition, he placed 11th in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.35 and posted a distance of 100-08 in the discus. He then took seventh place in the pole vault (12-03.25) and 13th in the javelin (124-07). He rounded out the competition with a sixth place finish in the 1500 meters (4:52.05).

Brandon Bassett finished ninth in the event with a personal best of 5982 points. He also had personal bests in all events but the discus. He placed 12th in the 100-meters (11.71) before taking seventh (20-10), eighth (35-10.75) and ninth (5-10.75) in the long jump, shot put and high jump respectively. He finished out Thursday's action with a personal best of 53.71 and 11th place in the 400-meter dash.

Friday started with a fifth place finish in the 110-meter hurdles (15.92) for Bassett before posted 94.10 in the discus and a personal best of 13-11.25 in the pole vault for a fourth place finish. He rounded out the competition with eight place (147-10) in the javelin and 12th place in the 1500 meters (5:30.04).

McGuire led the Samford women with an eighth place (3937) finish in the heptathlon. She started Thursday out with a personal best of 15.77 and ninth place finish in the 100-meter hurdles. .She then placed 14th (4-04.75) in the high jump and ninth in both the shot put (30-08.50) and 200-meter dash (27.41). On Friday, she placed 12th in the long jump (15-02.25), third in the javelin (107-06) and ninth in the 800 meters (2:38.59).

Emily Allen took 11th (3834) in her first collegiate outdoor heptathlon. She posted a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles, shot put, long jump and javelin. She took 13th in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.75and 12th in the high jump (4-07.00) and 200-meter dash (27.89). She also placed 11th in the shot put with a personal best of 30-00.75. On Friday, she placed eighth in the long jump (16-09.25), 11th in the javelin (86-08) and 10th in the 800 meters (2:39.00).

Elyse Rippe placed 13th in the event with 2959 points. On Thursday she placed 15th in the 100-meters hurdles (19.40), 12th in the high jump (4-07.00), 14th in the shot put (24-11.00) and 11th in the 200-meter dash (31.39). On Friday she placed 13th in the long jump (14-00.75), 11th in the javelin (69-10) and fifth in the 800 meters (2:32.11).

Saturday's action begins at 8:30 a.m. with the women's 10,000 meters. The event is open to the public and admission is free.