Bengals Hold Top-Three Spots in the Heptathlon :: Junior Cassie Merkley leads the Championship with 3,380 points

May 14, 2008

Sacramento, CA--The Idaho State women's track and field team records the top-three spots in the heptathlon at the 2008 Outdoor Big Sky Conference Championship after the first day of competition. Leading the Bengals is Junior Cassie Merkley who earned three first place finishes and one second place finish Wednesday afternoon at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.

Merkley, who holds the seventh best heptathlon score in the nation holds the lead with 3,380 points and is followed by teammates Sydney Wendt who finished the day with 3,030 and Erin Bell who holds 3,003 points. Merkley strung together numerous top-notch performances to hold the first place spot in the heptathlon with. She started the day with a 100-point lead ahead of the competition when she ran a time of 13.78 in the 100-meter hurdles for first place. In the high jump she reached a height of 5-05.25 to capture second place and was overcome by Sophomore Bengal Sydney Wendt who took first with a height of 5-07.75. Merkley threw a distance of 40-11.00 in the shot put and finished the day with a victory in the 200-meter dash when she ran a time of 25.16, 0.28 seconds ahead of the competition.

Wendt holds second place in the heptathlon with 3,030 points, just 350 points behind Merkley. Along with her first place performance in the high jump she made excellent marks in rest of her events. Wendt ran a time of 15.06 in the 100-meter hurdles and threw a distance of 33-01.75 in the shot put. She finished the day with an eighth place finish with her 26.18 time in the 200-meter dash. Senior Bell started the day with an excellent performance in the 100-meter hurdles when she ran 14.63 for a third place finish. She also took third place in the high jump with a height of 5-04.25 and fifth with a time of 25.94 in the 200-meter dash.

Leading the men in the decathlon is Freshman Brandon McNew who holds 10th place with 3,017 points followed by Brandon Graef with 2,931 points in 11th place and Trevor White in 12th pace with 2,746 points. McNew achieved his best finish of the day in the high jump with a height of 6-03.50 for a second place finish. Other accomplishments for the day include a distance of 20-02.50 in the long jump and a time of 54.29 in the 400-meter dash.

Sophomore Graef began Wednesday's decathlon events well when he ran a time of 11.24 in the 100-meter dash to capture third place. He also tied for third with a distance of 21-10.75 in the long jump and ran a time of 51.21 in the 400-meter dash to capture fourth place. Freshman White had his best performance in the shot put when he threw a distance of 32-11.75 for an eighth place finish.

The multi events conclude on Thursday at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex. The men begin the day with the 110-meter hurdles at 11 a.m. while the women begin at 1 p.m. with the long jump. The running and field events begin Friday and continues through Saturday.