COLLEGEVILLE, Pa – Haverford College freshman Jeffrey Ainsley ran and leaped and threw his way to into first place after the opening day of the men's heptathlon event Friday at the Centennial Conference 2013 men's indoor track & field championship hosted by Ursinus College.
Ainsley racked up 2,569 points over four events, piling up points using season-best performances in the 60-meter dash, the shot put, and the high jump.
Trailing Ainsley are a trio of Johns Hopkins University athletes. Alex Webb is in second, 89 points behind, while Ryan Walsh is in third with 2,387 points and Michael Spadaro is fourth with 2,335 points.
The up and down nature of competitor's strengths against varying events didn't affect Ainsley who was third in the 60 with a time of 7.48 seconds, third in the long jump (5.92 meters/10 feet, 5.25 inches) and third in the shot (10.62/34-10.25).
Ainsley's high jump, a season-best height of 1.95m (6-4.75), captured the event and propelled the Haverford newcomer into the lead heading into Saturday's final three events.
Day 2 opens with one of Ainsley's strengths, the 60m-hurdles. His best time this season, 8.67 seconds, ranks third-fastest among the conference's sprinters who Ainsley will not have to race against in the heptathlon.
The pole vault follows the hurdles and presents a challenge but the final event, the 1,000m run, brings Ainsley's talents back into play.
All other events of the 2013 championship meet begin Saturday morning with a series of field events at 10:30 a.m. at Ursinus' Bakes Field House. Drawing the day's events to a close will be the awards presentation scheduled for 6:45 p.m.