WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Antonio Wood took a dominating lead in the heptathlon and also scored in the long jump, while VMI posted three of the top five qualifiers for Friday's 800-meter final as the Keydet men's track and field team competed at the opening day of the Big South Indoor Championships, held Thursday at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wood jumped out to a 317-point advantage over runner-up Tristan Faure of High Point, thanks to posting the top mark in three of the day's four events and notching 3061 points. The senior grabbed a 61-point lead in the 60-meter dash, also posted the top marks in the long jump and high jump, and never looked back en route to pulling away to the commanding advantage. Quincy Murphy, meanwhile, put the Keydets in potential position to have two on the podium as he sits in third after day one. Murphy finished in the top four of each of the four events and currently has 2711 markers.
The Keydets enjoyed success in the 800-meters as well, posting three of the top five time qualifiers. Jacob Lysher sat at the top of the leaderboard with a 1:55.08 effort, with Avery Martin (1:56.44) third and Andrey Dmitriev (1:57.12) fifth. With flat track conversions, both Lysher and Martin punched their tickets to the IC4A Championships.
Overall, the Keydets are in seventh place in the team standings with 11 points, five points behind Charleston Southern and seven shy of a fourth-place tie between Campbell and Radford (18). Liberty leads with 67.5 markers, with High Point well back in second place (33.5) and Gardner-Webb third (23). Winthrop (5) and UNC Asheville bring up the rear of the team standings.
Both Dmitriev and Wood returned later on for event finals, and both notched points in their respective events. Dmitriev notched a fifth-place finish in the 3K by clocking in at 8:33.85, while Wood was sixth in the long jump at 6.94 meters (22'9 ¼").
In other finals Thursday, the Keydets saw two throwers notch points in the shot put while competing in their first conference championships. Joel Hoisington hurled the implement 14.74 meters (48'4 ½") to finish seventh, and Jordan White notched a 14.45 meter (47'5") effort to place eighth with a collegiate best effort.
VMI also got on the board in the pole vault, as freshman Staton Mayfield cleared the bar at 4.25 meters (13'11 ½") to place eighth. Mayfield's classmate, Aron Long, set himself up to notch points Friday by making the finals of the 200-meter dash, and doing it by the slimmest of margins. Long clocked in at 22.43 and made the finals by just .01 seconds.
"I was very pleased with our performances today," said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. "Between our two teams, we had 29 seasonal best performances and set ourselves up well for tomorrow's finals. I was happy with our success in the 800, and glad to see Jacob Lysher and Avery Martin qualify for IC4A's. I also feel as though Antonio is in good shape in the heptathlon, and believe he will finish well tomorrow."
In addition, the Keydets saw Pete Reed finish ninth in the long jump at 6.74 meters (22'1 ½"), missing scoring by just one inch.
VMI track and field is back in action Friday, taking part in the final day of the Big South Indoor Championships at the JDL Fast Track. Action will get underway at 10 a.m.
