Arkansas Razorbacks sophomore Austen Dalquist never had run a 10,000 meters in a track and field meet before Thursday night in Columbia, S.C.
Dalquist found himself in the race as the SEC Outdoor Championships opened because of teammate Andrew Ronoh's season-ending foot injury.
Razorbacks Coach Chris Bucknam said he was hoping Dalquist could score at least a point.
Dalquist did better than that, taking sixth in 30 minutes, 49.07 seconds for three points in the University of Arkansas, Fayettevlle's quest to win its 20th SEC outdoor title.
"Austen stepped in there and did a great job and picked up three big points for us," Bucknam said. "He's a brave kid to run an event for the first time and go out and score at an SEC meet.
"It was a tough situation to put him in, but we needed to fill a gap left by Andrew being on the shelf."
Razorbacks sophomore Kemar Mowatt, the SEC leader in the 400 hurdles this season, ran 50.56 seconds to advance to the final along with juniors Travius Chambers (50.86) and Larry Donald (51.16).
Two Razorbacks advanced in the 200 with senior Josh Washington running a personal-best 20.31 and junior Kenzo Cotton running 20.54.
"There's an unbelievable amount and talent in this meet in the 200 and 400 hurdles," Bucknam said. "So for us to get five guys through was huge."
Arkansas sophomore Carlton Orange ran 1:48.54 to advance in the 800.
Three Razorbacks are in scoring spots halfway through the decathlon with junior Derek Jacobus fourth (4,086 points), junior Gabe Moore fifth (3,951) and senior Brad Culp seventh (,3742).
Jacobus and Culp set personal-bests for first-day scoring.
Dalquist was the only Razorback to compete in a final Thursday.
"I'm very pleased with our team and their approach to this meet," Bucknam said. "The guys seem loose and confident.
"We had a great first day. Whether it's going to be enough at the end we'll find out, but all you can do is put together what you think you can and rise to the occasion. I think we did that today."
Sports on 05/12/2017