BATON ROUGE — LSU All-American Claston Bernard opened defense of his SEC decathlon title Thursday evening, taking the lead after one day of competition, as the 68th Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championships got underway at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
Bernard came up with a five-event total of 4,110 and won two events on Thursday. Bernard opened the 2000 conference meet by winning the 100-meter dash in a time of 10.73 and then went on to win the shot put with a throw of 48-8 3/4, over three feet better than the second place mark.
Bernard finished second in the high jump with a clearance of 6-9. Bernard closed his evening out, however, with a sub-par 400-meter dash, running a 50.33 to finish ninth. Enrico Gordon of Arkansas sits in second place with a first day total of 4,021.
“My day started out good with the 100,” said Bernard. “I didn’t long jump well and that disrupted me a little bit, but I competed well in the shot put and high jump. The 400 was horrible, however. I’m a little disappointed but I have to give thanks for where I am. It could have been a lot worse.”
LSU’s Loren Leaverton came up with season best efforts in the 100-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash and finds herself in third place in the heptathlon after the first day of competition.
Leaverton finished fifth in the hurdles with a time of 14.03, while closing the day out with a solid 24.94 under legal winds to jump into third place with a first day total of 3,271. Virginia Miller of Arkansas leads after the first day with a total of 3,436.
The SEC Outdoor Championships continue Friday with the conclusion of the multi-event competition, as well as preliminary rounds of a number of track events.