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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- All four University of New Mexico decathletes are in scoring position through five events as the multi-event competitions kicked off the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships today at Great Friends of UNM Track Stadium. Freshman Dan Feltman leads (third place) three Lobos in the top five of the men’s decathlon, while senior Keren Sari-Bentzur finished the first four events of the women’s heptathlon in fourth place.

Competing in his first collegiate decathlon, Feltman captured the shot put (45-04.25) and finished second in the 100 (11.21) and 400 meters (50.47) to post a score of 3,710 at the midway point. The Deming, N.M. native finished the day just 231 points behind BYU junior Curtis Pugsley, who leads the competition with a score of 3,941.

UNM sophomore transfer Ryan Voge (3,666) and junior Mark Johnson (3,573) are just off Feltman’s pace, sitting in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Voge tied for first in the high jump with a team-best leap of 6-07.50, 1.5 inches over his previous best. Meanwhile, Johnson, the defending MWC decathlon champion, enjoyed a solid all-around performance highlighted by marks of 22-02.25 in the long jump and 6-04.00 in the high jump. Lobo freshman Robert Gunn finished fourth in both the 100 (11.24) and 400 (51.13) to wrap up the day in scoring position as well in seventh place.

On the women’s side, Sari-Bentzur finished among the top three in each of the first three events of the afternoon and clocked a season-best time of 25.33 (25.40 altitude adjusted) to take fourth in the 200 meters. Her first day score of 3,146 is 122 points out of first place, where defending conference champion Leslie Miller of San Diego State currently sits with a score of 3,268. New Mexico sophomore Amber Nolte (2,494 pts.) is less than 100 points out of the eighth and final scoring position in ninth place, while freshman Suzanne Nguyen (2,342 pts.) is in 11th through four events.

The tight multi-event competitions conclude tomorrow, beginning with the heptathlon at noon. The women will compete in the long jump, javelin and 800 meters, while the men will finish with the 110-meter hurdles, pole vault, discus, javelin and 1,500 meter run.

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Lobos Track & Field

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