Nkounkou Takes Early Lead in America East Decathlon

Saturday, May 6

Durham, N.H.

9AM

University of New Hampshire

America East Championships, Day 1

Joel Nkounkou finished second in the decathlon.

Junior Joel Nkounkou finished second in the heptathlon after Sunday's final events.

Photo by: Greg Greene

5/6/2017 6:48:00 PM | Men's Track & Field

Results

DURHAM, N.H. – Junior Joel Nkounkou (Dover, N.H.) grabbed the first-day lead in the decathlon to lead the University of New Hampshire men's track & field team in the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Reggie Atkins Track & Field Facility in Wildcat Stadium.

The championships conclude Sunday at UNH with the decathlon events for the men and heptathlon events for the women beginning at 9 a.m.

The Wildcats are in second place after the first day. The University at Albany, which has won 12 straight league outdoor championships, leads with 46 points. UNH has 40 points. Vermont is third with 31, Binghamton fourth with 26 and UMass Lowell fifth with 25.

UNH also got impressive performances from freshman Kyle Faucher (Danville, N.H.), who was runner-up in the javelin, and senior Ryan Chiesa (Stockholm, N.J.) who was runner-up in the steeplechase. Freshman Nicolas Ochoa-Sevilla (Chester, N.H.) was fifth in the steeplechase. Chiesa and Ochoa-Sevilla both ran personal bests in the steeplechase.

Nkounkou, who finished fourth in the decathlon last year, won a couple of decathlon events with victories in the long jump and high jump and was third in the 100 and shot put. Five decathlon events have been completed and there are five to go.

Nkounkou has 3,570 points. Joe Miceli of Albany is at 3,445 points and Dennis Pearly of UMass Lowell is third at 3,426.

Besides competing in five decathlon events on Saturday, Nkounkou also competed in the long jump and 110 meter hurdles. He earned points with a seventh-place finish in the long jump. He finished sixth in the 110 hurdles to earn his way into Sunday's finals in the event.

THE DETAILS

The championships conclude Sunday.
Other than the steeplechase and 10,000 meter events, Saturday's running events were qualifiers for the finals on Sunday.
On Sunday, the decathlon and heptathlon both begin at 9 a.m. The throwing events begin at 10:30 a.m. and the running events at 11 a.m.
Admission is $10. The price for those 14 and under is $5. It's $2 for students with UNH students getting in free.
Fans should enter through Gate A, under the stadium's videoboard/scoreboard.
UNH is hosting the event for the fourth time and first since 2010.

UP NEXT

The New England Championships are set for May 12 and 13 at Williams College.
The IC4As are scheduled May 13 and May 14 at Princeton University.

MEET RESULTS
Among the other top finishers and qualifiers for the Wildcats on Saturday:

Senior Jake Kittredge (Amherst, N.H.) won his heat and qualified first for Sunday's 800 meter run with a time of 1:52.22.
Sophomore Eric Brogioli (Milford, Mass.) finished fourth in the hammer throw.
Sophomore Jon Chapman (Warwick, R.I.) was fifth in the hammer.
Junior Alex Tamulonis (Mason, N.H.) was fifth in the pole vault.
Junior Brandon Allen (East Elmhurst, N.Y.) qualified for the finals in the 100 meters and 200 meters.
Chiesa's time of 9:19.54 in the steeplechase and Ochoa-Sevilla's 9:29.47 were both personal records.
Sophomore Brett Hoerner (Manchester, N.H.) advanced in the 1500 in a time of 3:56.74 and sophomore William Ulrich (Mineola, N.Y.) advanced in 3:55.55.
Junior Timothy Kenefick (Guilford, Conn.) finished sixth in the 10,000 meters.
Senior Andrew McFarland (Nazareth, Pa.) advanced in the 400 meter hurdles at 53.47.