AUSTIN, Texas – Sophomore
Denim Rogers acquitted himself well as the HBU track & field program's first NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships qualifier on day one of the decathlon, accruing 4,071 points and standing in fourth place out of 24 participants at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas on Wednesday.
Rogers opened the day with a second-place finish in the first event, the 100 meter dash, with a time of 10.79 for a new wind-legal personal best and 908 points. He then followed that performance up with a PR in the long jump with a top leap of 7.10m/23-3.50 to pick up an additional 838 points and place eighth overall in the event. The PRs continued for Rogers as he recorded a distance of 11.95m/39-2.50 in the shot put, bettering his previous best by more than a foot, for 603 points.
Next came the high jump, an event in which Rogers again placed second with a personal best height of 2.04m/6-8.25 on his third attempt at the height. The sophomore added 840 points to his total with one event left on the day. In the day's final event, the 400 meters, he again set a new PR and placed fifth with a time of 48.56 for 882 points.
Rogers entered the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships ranked 13
th in the decathlon with a total of 7,504 points. That point total was accumulated at the Bryan Clay Invitational where he totaled 3,982 points through day one. On Wednesday, he surpassed his point total in each event compared to his first five from that meet.
Georgia's Johannes Erm leads the event with 4,395 points followed by Stanford's Harrison Williams with 4,266 points and Kent State's TJ Lawson with 4,216.
Rogers will close out the decathlon on Thursday, June 6, with the day's first event beginning at 1:00 p.m.
