BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Aron Long had the best day of his career, posting two IC4A qualifying times that included the fastest 100-meter time by a Keydet in nearly a decade to lead the VMI men's track and field team on the opening day at the SoCon Outdoor Championships, contested Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.
Long was the top qualifier to Saturday's finals in both the 100 and 200-meters, but it was the manner in which he did it that was particularly notable. He ran a 10.70 in the 100, an IC4A qualifier and the fastest time for a Keydet since 2006, and then in the 200, ran a personal best 21.37 to set the seventh-fastest time in school history in the event. That was also an IC4A qualifying time and put Long a tie for 69th in the East Region.
In the team standings, VMI currently sits sixth with 14 points, ahead of Wofford (10), Chattanooga (10) and UNCG (4). Samford leads with 61 points, while ETSU is second (49) and Western Carolina is third (40). Citadel (29) and Furman (16) round out the team standings after day one.
"We had a very good first day," said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. "Aron Long's performances were nothing short of outstanding, and I was also pleased with our performance in the finals of various events, including the javelin and hammer throws."
In finals contested Saturday, VMI's top finisher was freshman Donovan Walton, who finished fifth in the javelin with a top effort of 49.91 meters (163'9"). Jordan White, meanwhile, was sixth in the hammer with a 48.07 M/157'8" toss.
Running event finals included the 3,000-meter steeplechase, where Sean Helmke finished sixth (9:24.34), and the 10K that saw Brandon White place sixth (32:27.89) and Hartnel Paultre finish eighth (32:39.62).
The decathlon opened action Saturday and saw Quincy Murphy post 3,577 points to come in second after the first five events. Murphy is just nine points behind the leader, Nathan Rivera of ETSU, and will open day two with the 110-hurdles, his best event of the competition's ten. The Keydets also are in seventh (Tyler Robinson, 2851), eighth (Killian Carey, 2845) and ninth (Jeremiah Sokol, 2804) in the decathlon.
The rest of the running event prelims saw Avery Martin's 3:55.17 be good enough for the top qualifying spot in the 1,500-meters, while Jacob Lysher got through to the 800-meter finals with relative ease on the strength of a 1:52.15 effort. Davon Guerrier advanced in the 400-meter hurdles (55.20) and Julian Jackson did the same in the open 400 (49.69).
Finally, both Murphy and Guerrier qualified to the 110-meter hurdle finals as the event was changed to a one-race final after one athlete false-started in Saturday's prelims.
The 2015 SoCon Outdoor Championships resume Sunday, when the final day opens of action at 9 a.m.
Men's All-Freshman Team - Day 1
10,000m Run
Carl Oberfeitinger, ETSU
Luke Sumerford, UNCG
Hammer
Sadarius Lucas, The Citadel
Logan Louzader, ETSU
Pole Vault
Gavin Gautreau, Samford
Tray Oates, Samford
Corey Ginley, Western Carolina
Long Jump
Marquis Barnes, Samford
Brenden Caldwall, Western Carolina
Devin Singleton, The Citadel
Javelin
Donovan Walton, VMI
Griffin Miller, The Citadel
Joseph Lee, Samford
3000m Steeplechase
Haydn Borghetti-Metz, ETSU
Josh Salter, Samford
Paul Richardson, Samford
