MERKLEY WINS HEPTATHLON, TRUBACHIK CLAIMS DECATHLON TITLE AT BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIPS
5/16/2008
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Idaho State’s Cassie Merkley and Portland State Nick Trubachik maintained their first day leads to win the heptathlon and decathlon, respectively, at the 2008 Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Thursday afternoon at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.
Merkley scored 5,402 points and finished first in four of the seven events in the heptathlon. On Thursday, she was fourth in the long jump (17-09.00), won the javelin (145-09), and finished 11th in the 800 (2:37.96). She led a run of Bengals in the top eight as Idaho State scored 26 points team points. Along with the 10 the team received from Merkley, Sydney Wendt scored six by placing third, Amanda Janowitz was fourth for five points, Erin Bell tallied four by placing fifth and Sasha Boylova added one with an eighth-place finish.
Montana’s Baily Cox was second overall with 5,278 points and joined Merkley as the two student-athletes to meet the NCAA provisional mark. Teammate Amber Aikins was seventh overall to give the team 10 points. Montana State’s Kelsey Cooley completed the scorers by placing sixth for three points.
In the decathlon, Trubachik withstood a late charge from Montana’s Chirs Hicks to win the title. Trubachik scored 7,058 points while Hicks finished at 6,977. Portland State’s Vince Kinney was third with 6,837 and Sacramento State’s Robert Brazier was fourth for the second straight season with 6,785 points.
Trubachik added to his lead by placing second in the 110-hurdles to start the lead but then saw Hicks finish first in the discus with a throw of 125-01. Brazier and Hicks both gained ground in the pole vault finishing first and second, respectively. Brazier cleared 15-03.00 for 804 points while Hicks scored 746 points with a vault of 14-07.25. However, Trubachik was able to win the javelin with a throw of 198-03 and ran the 1500 in 4:40.73 for his first Big Sky title.
Unlike the one-sided women’s team standings, seven different teams scored in the decathlon. Portland State leads the way with 16 points and is followed by eight from Montana. Sacramento State is currently third with five, Northern Arizona scored four, Idaho State three, Weber State two and Eastern Washington one.
The meet continues with the individual events on Friday. The first field event is scheduled for 1 p.m. while the track events start at 3 p.m. Due to the high temperatures, the women’s 10K has now been moved to 8:30 p.m. and the men’s 10K will start at 9:10 p.m.
