Cordell Davis made a point or two about small-school track and field with his showing in the first day of the Great Southwest decathlon. Photo by Alan Versaw.
Most New Mexico athletes don't get a lot of multi-event work. Yet, that didn't seem to faze the Enchanted on the first day of Great Southwest. Though competing against a handful of deeply experienced multi-event athletes, New Mexico's multi-eventers put on a strong showing under the stark New Mexico sun.
And, even despite the absence of Chelsea Challacombe, it was the crew from Los Alamos who did the most damage. At the end of the first day of competition, Simon Bailey of Los Alamos held down sixth place, and only five points out of fifth, while teammate Greg Ahlers had a couple of nice showings of his own.
The highlight of Ahlers' day came in the high jump, where the Los Alamos junior hung in all the way through 1.85m. He ended his day on a similarly high note, posting a 52.68 for sixth in the 400.
Simon Bailey, however, was the picture of consistency. Bailey picked up a seventh in the 100 (11.61), a fifth in the long jump (20-7.75), a seventh in the shot put (36-3.5), and a fourth in the 400 (51.15). The lone problem spot for Bailey came in the high jump, where he topped out at 1.70m.
Also representing New Mexico in the boys decathlon competition was Cordell Davis of Cliff. After a rocky start in the 100, Davis come back with a 20-5 long jump, a 37-11.5 shot put, 1.76m in the high jump, and a 53.96 in the 400.
As anticipated, New Mexico's efforts in the heptathlon were headed by Kyra Mohns. Though competing against some of the best heptathletes in the nation, Mohns held her own with a 15.45 100H, a 1.59m (5-2.5 high jump), a 10.01m shot put (32-10.25--an improvement on the order of five feet over last year for Mohns), and a 26.02 200. Mohns finished the day in sixth and 2832 points, a near-certain lock to break through her top performances from USATF meets last summer.
New Mexico was also represented on the day by Kelly Barrows and Madeline Weibe in the heptathlon and Carly Bonwell in the girls decathlon. Bonwell climbed as high as third in the event rankings in the pole vault and discus, but finished the day well outside of the top three.