Hutchinson Community College track and field coach Pat Becher called Thursday’s opening day of the 2012 Region VI Outdoor Track and Field Championships “a pretty good start.”

Three Blue Dragon men’s athletes reside in second, third and fourth place after Day 1 of the Decathlon at Gowans Stadium.

Blake Withrow is second at 3,173 points. Karson Becker is third at 3,057 and Alex Hill is fourth at 3,050 points.  Cowley’s Rodgerick Woods leads the competition after 5 of 10 events with 3,301 points.

To qualify for the NJCAA Outdoor National Championships, decathletes must have one of the top 16 scores across the nation. Entering the Region VI Championships, Becker was ranked 14th and Withrow was ranked 17th in the nation.

Withrow started Day 1 with a fifth-place showing in the 100 meters in a time of 11.71 seconds (709 points). He jumped from fifth to second in the overall standings after a second-place showing in the long jump, going 20 feet, 7 1/2 inches (648 points). Withrow then pulled to within a single point of Woods after three events after winning the shot put with a throw of 34-10 1/4 (523 points). He finished out Day 1 tying for third in the high jump at 5-11 1/4 (636 points) and finishing sixth in the 400 meters at 53.58 seconds (657 points).

Becker finished 10th in the 100 meters  at 12.04 seconds (643 points) and he finished fifth in the long jump at 19-9 (591 points). Becker’s best event finish was second place in the shot put at 33-7 1/4 (500 points). He then tied for third in the high jump at 5-11 1/4 (636 points) and was fourth in the 400 meters at 52.87 seconds (687 points).

Hill won the high jump at 6 feet, 5 inches and earned 767 points. He was ninth in the 100 meters (12.02, 647 points), third in the long jump (20-5, 635 points), fifth in the shot put (30-4 1/4 (441 points) and ninth in the 400 meters (55.99, 560 points).

The final five events of the Decathlon – the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters – will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Prisca Roys-Dossou of Colby is the women’s Heptathlon leader after 4 of 7 events at 2,289 points. The final three events of that competition begin at 9:30 a.m.

Open field events of the Region VI Outdoor Championships begin at 4 p.m. and track preliminaries with selected finals begin at 5 p.m. at Gowans Stadium.

The Region VI Outdoor Track and Field Championships run through Saturday.

(HCC Sports Information)

2012 REGION VI DECATHLON RESULTS
After 5 of 10 Events
1. Rodgerick Woods, Cowley                3,301
2. Blake Withrow, Hutchinson           3,173
3. Karson Becker, Hutchinson           3,057
4. Alex Hill, Hutchinson                     3,050
5. Derrick Schluter, Highland                3,020
6. Braxton Quelle, Johnson County       2,863
7. Garrett Smith, Johnson County         2,722
8. David Gregory, Cloud County            2,600
9. Quentin McAfee, Cloud County         2,598
10. Tony Branscum, Cowley                 2,596
11. Chris Sipe, Cloud County                2,349
12. Koy Watkins, Butler                       2,219


2012 REGION VI HEPTATHLON RESULTS
After 4 of 7 Events
1. Prisca Roys-Dossou, Colby              2,289
2. Paige Slayton, Butler                        2,207
3. Niki Andrews, Cowley                       2,146
4. Kristen Daschke, Johnson County     2,065
5. Leslie Ostertag, Highland                  1,861
6. Vanessa Loya, Colby                        1,168