FT. COLLINS -- BYU decathlete Devin Howe led the Cougar multi-event athletes on Wednesday, landing in second place after five events, as the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships kicked off.
The first day of action saw the decathletes compete in the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters, while the women's heptathletes competed in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters.
Howe is just more than 100 points behind leader Dan Feltman of New Mexico, ending the day with 3,618 points. Howe was consistent in all five events, earning more than 750 points in three of the events. He was particularly strong in the high jump and 400 meters, finishing second in each.
He cleared 6 feet 6.25 inches in the high jump and ran a sub-50 second 400 meters.
On the women's side, Liis Berendsen leads the Cougars, placing fifth after the first day with 2,899 points. Berendsen trails event-leading Christine Spence of UNLV by more than 300 points, but is only 156 points out of second place.
Berendsen, like Howe, also looked strong in the high jump, earning 724 points in the event by clearing 5 feet 2.5 inches.
Teammate Sarah Lacey is close behind in seventh place with 2,777, running particularly well in the 100-meter hurdles. Fellow freshman Julie Andersen finds herself in 10th place with 2,581 points.
While Howe leads a trio of Cougar decathletes, teammates Chris Weirich and Kevin Keys finished the day in seventh and 10th place respectively. Weirich earned 3,152 points with one of his stronger events, the pole vault, scheduled for tomorrow. Keys finished with 2,959 points.
The decathlon will resume tomorrow with the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters, while the women will compete in the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
Competition is scheduled to begin at noon.