Florida Gators
SEC Outdoor Championships
Gray Horn Sets School Opening-Day Decathlon Record
Friday, May 14, 2010 | Track and Field
Sophomore Florida multi-event athlete Gray Horn (Waynesfield, Ohio) set the school opening day decathlon record Thursday and eclipsed the 4,000-point day-one mark for the first time in his career, placing him in second through five events at the 2010 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships at Tom Black Track.
“I'm obviously very proud of Gray,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “It's the best opening day he's ever had in the decathlon and it gives us great momentum for the rest of the program. He had three PRs – a couple of them really big and, even though the high jump didn't go the way he wanted, he came back and ran a great 400. It gives our team a great jumpstart to the weekend.”
Horn, who recorded personal-best marks in each of his first three events Thursday, finished with a first-day point total of 4,068, which smashed his previous first-day personal record of 3,973, recorded at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also broke Mike Morrison's school opening-day record of 4,021.
Horn currently sits in second place of the decathlon competition through five events. Georgia's Cory Holman leads the competition with 4,164 total points with Horn 96 points off the lead.
“You know it's a great day any time you can have a school record at a conference meet,” Florida multi-events coach Mellanee Welty said. “He did a really good job of fighting through some adversity and pulling it together at the end. We know things are going well, Gray just needs to come out tomorrow and compete the way he did today, and we will be in good shape.”
Horn opened the day with a personal-record time of 10.77 in the 100-meter dash to place second overall in that event. It bested his previous-best time of 10.85, charted at the Mt. Sac Relays Multi-Events on April 14 in Azusa, Calif.
Horn won the long jump event with a personal-record leap of 7.65m/25-1.25 (+2.1) on his third attempt to take over the lead in the competition with 1,884 total points through two events. That bettered Horn's previous collegiate long jump PR of 7.59m/24-11 and shattered his previous decathlon long jump personal-best of 7.39m/24-3.
Horn, in what is typically one of his weaker events, eclipsed his personal-record mark in the decathlon shot put with a toss of 12.58m/41-3.25. That broke his previous-best shot put mark of 12.36m/40-6.75. He increased his points total to 2,526 after the shot put competition to remain in first place.
Horn struggled in the high jump, placing third with a leap of 1.94m/6-4.25 before running a strong race in the 400m in a time of 50.48.
The second day of the SEC Outdoor Championships resumes at 10 a.m. ET Friday with the decathlon activities starting at 4 p.m. ET at Tom Black Track.
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SEC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (MAY 13-16, 2010 – KNOXVILLE, TENN.)
Men's Decathlon – 4 p.m. ET
- Gray Horn
Decathlon 100m Dash
2. Gray Horn – 10.77 (+2.6) – 912 points
Decathlon Long Jump
1. Gray Horn – 7.65m/25-1.25 (+2.1) – 972 points
Decathlon Shot Put
3. Gray Horn – 12.58m/41-3.25 – 642 points
Decathlon High Jump
3. Gray Horn – 1.94m/6-4.25 – 749 points
Decathlon 400m Dash
6. Gray Horn – 50.48 – 793 points
MEN'S DECATHLON STANDINGS (THROUGH FIVE EVENTS)
1. Cory Holman, Georgia – 4,164
2. Gray Horn, Florida – 4,068
3. Terry Prentice, Arkansas – 3,976
4. Trevarus Christian, Mississippi State – 3,931
5. Scott Pierce , South Carolina – 3,815
6. Eddie Stoudemire, South Carolina – 3,793
7. Antione Lipscomb, Mississippi State – 3,672
8. Jager Livingston, Auburn – 3,563
9. Michael Hughes, Alabama – 3,538
10. Matt Kirbos, Arkansas – 3,496
11. Martin Lee, Mississippi State – 3,377
12. Justin Brady , Alabama – 3,213
END OF REPORT
