PROVO -- Devin Scoresby and Curtis Pugsley finished day one of the decathlon competition at the Clarence Robison Invitational leading the field of 13 competitors with 3,932 and 3,676 points respectively.
For Scoresby, a junior from Idaho Falls, a lifetime best in both the shot put (42-11.5) and 400-meters (50.99) helped him to a first-day personal best of 3,932 points.
"Scoresby had a very good day," head coach Mark Robison said. "With his performance today, he has a very good shot at qualifying for the NCAA National meet. If he can have a good day on Thursday, I think he has a legitimate shot."
Scoresby won both the long jump (23-00) and the high jump (6-08.75), finished second in the 100-meters (11.17), and finished third in the 400-meters and shot put to grab a 256-point lead over Pugsley after day one. Scoresby, who has a tallied a season-high 6,929 points at the Texas Relays earlier this season, is on pace to eclipse the 7,000-point mark and potentially qualify for the NCAA Championships in Sacramento.
Pugsley, who finished third in the 100-meters (11.19) and second in the high jump (6-05) will look to improve on his score in the second day of competition.
"Curtis typically does better on the second day," Robison says. "He should score well in the hurdles and will look to qualify for regionals in the pole vault."
Pugsley, who is also on pace to score over 7,000 points this weekend, has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship meet with a score of 7,249 points at the Texas Relays earlier this month.
True freshman Justin Palmer finished the day in fifth place with 3,448 points. Justin Bigger is currently in 11th place with 2,931 points. Idaho State's Adam Matthews is currently in third place with 3.647 points--29 points behind Pugsley. Andrew Levin of Montana is in fourth place with 3,540 points.
"Overall, our 400 times are getting better," Robison said. "That means we're getting in shape. A lot of these guys have been busy with finals and haven't really practiced in a couple weeks. With finals over, this will give us three weeks to get ready for the Mountain West Championships in Albuquerque."
In women's action, freshman Liis Berendsen finished day one of the heptathlon in eighth place with 2,584 points. This weekend's competition marks the first collegiate heptathlon for the Tallinn, Estonia native.
"Liis should finish with 4,500 points," head coach Craig Poole said. "This is the first time she has ever competed in the heptathlon at this level, and will continue to improve with each performance. We're looking for her to have a decent ranking in the Mountain West Conference."
Former BYU All-American and current assistant strength coach, Tiffany Hogan, leads the competition with 3,689 points, and is within 15 points of her all-time best. Hogan, who is competing to earn a spot on the United State's Olympic team, will look to score over 6,100 points in order to qualify for a spot on the national team.
Action in both the heptathlon and decathlon will resume at Noon (MDT) on Thursday, April 24 at the BYU Track Complex in Provo. Field events at the Clarence Robison Invitational will begin on Friday, April 25 at Noon and will resume at 10 a.m. on Saturday. All track events will be held on Saturday, April 26, beginning with the women's hurdles at 2 p.m. This weekend's meet is free to the public.