COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Gabe Moore began the heptathlon with a personal-best time of 6.94 in the 60 meters, yelling loudly at the finish after winning the first heat at the opening race of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
"I just executed the race well," said Moore, fully recovered from a bothersome hamstring early in the indoor season. "We talked about having a better start. My form has increased exponentially from last year to this year."
His shot out of the blocks gave Moore a boost to his day. He is in fifth place in the heptathlon after the first four events with 3,343 points. Kentucky senior Tim Duckworth leads with 3,601. The competition concludes today with the final three events at Texas A&M's Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
Moore built on his opening-race momentum, getting career bests in his first three events. His last long jump was his best, pushing him from 23 feet, 6 inches to 24-0¾. Moore made the biggest climb in the overall competition with the shot put, where he had a second-best throw of 47-2¼.
"That's huge, especially at nationals, to come out on the big stage," said Moore, a junior who finished 12th here a year ago. "If you can be coachable and then execute what he is saying, then generally you are going to be pretty good. That's what I did in the [long jump] approach and put the foot down at the end, and we just sailed."
Moore nearly matched his top high jump, clearing 6-6¼ but scraped the bar on his first attempt at 6-7½.
After a false start in his heat, senior Kenzo Cotton ran 6.66 in the 60, falling short of a spot in the finals. Cotton moved powerfully into the lead in the opening heat of the 200, finishing first at 20.63.
Cotton, who was seventh in the 200 at the NCAA indoor meet last year (20.75), had the fifth-best overall time Friday, with Houston's Elijah Hall leading the field at 20.26.
"I was disappointed in my 60 and wanted to bounce back from that," Cotton said. "Early this year, I've had problems with not running the first 100 meters hard enough. I wanted to make sure I did that work in the first 100."
Sophomore LaQuan Nairn's best long jump was his first, a leap of 24-8¼, which netted 11th place.
Senior Jack Bruce was 12th in the 5,000 meters at 14:18.64. The race stayed close until the final lap when winner Justyn Knight of Syracuse moved in front to win in 14:14.47. Bruce was in position for a better finish, but he tripped on the final turn, losing momentum but staying on his feet.
Razorbacks junior Obi Igbokwe cut inside to take the lead after the first lap of his 400 semifinal heat, but he was overtaken in the final lap by Auburn's Nathan Allen and Wil London of Baylor. Igbokwe ran 46.67.
"It felt OK, but I've been sick all week," Igbokwe said. "I was in the hospital last night with some type of stomach bug. I haven't been able to hold food down. This was the first day in two or three days. In no way am I 100 percent. It's unfortunate that it happened today, but we have outdoors to look forward to."
Igbokwe is scheduled to compete for Arkansas in the 1,600-meter relay today, the final men's event. In the fourth and final 400 heat, Rhayko Schwartz pulled up on the final turn and did not finish.
Moore and Cotton will be joined by teammate Cameron Griffith (3,000) in individual competition today. The 1,6000 relay will wrap up the indoor season.
Sports on 03/10/2018