Day 1 blog

Liberty redshirt senior Daniel Newell sits in 14th place in the decathlon at the conclusion of Wednesday's events, at the 2009 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. His effort highlighted the Flames' performances during the meet's opening day at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark.

Newell (Roanoke, Va.), making his first NCAA national meet appearance, totaled 3,894 points during Wednesday's five disciplines, falling just 22 points shy of his best-ever first day point total. The redshirt senior bookended his day with a pair of stellar times in the running events.

Aided by a strong 4.1 m/s tailwind, Newell sped to a personal-best 10.74, finishing fourth in the morning's opening event, the 100-meter dash. His time was the second-fastest 100-meter dash performance ever recorded by a Liberty decathlete.

Five hours later, Newell again placed fourth in Wednesday's final discipline, the 400-meter dash. His official clocking, 48.87, established another new career best. He will resume the decathlon Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, with the 110-meter hurdles.

After a series of strong thunderstorms passed through the Fayetteville area, halting the meet for three hours and 10 minutes, senior Matt Parker (Rome, N.Y.) finally started competition in the men's high jump prelims at 11:15 p.m. Eastern. He cleared the opening height, 6-8.75, but could go no higher. Parker, who tied UCLA's Taylor Hobson for 16th place, failed to qualify for Friday's men's high jump final.

Freshman John Talbert (Newton, Kan.) will be the first of three Liberty athletes to compete on Thursday. He is scheduled to begin throwing in the men's discus prelims at 2 p.m. Eastern, within the infield at John McDonnell Field.

Day One Decathlon Standings
1) Ashton Eaton, Oregon - 4,367
2) Trinity Otto, Texas A&M - 4,138
3) Moritz Cleve, Kansas State - 4,131
4) Michael Ayers, Tennessee - 4,128
5) Mateo Sossah, North Carolina - 4,115
6) Bjorn Barrefors, Nebraska - 4,075
7) Mat Clark, Northern Iowa - 4,023
8) Lars Rise, Missouri - 3,989
14) Daniel Newell, Liberty - 3,894