Storm kick off day one at A-R-C Championships

DECORAH, Iowa - The Simpson track and field teams opened their journeys in the American Rivers Conference Championships with four athletes competing on the first day of the decathlon and heptathlon.

The Storm had three different athletes win an event in either competition and overall won five out of the nine events. Ulysses Patterson, Maddie Hays, and Aaliyah Johnson all rank in the top five of the overall decathlon or heptathlon after the first day.

Patterson kicked off the day with a second-place finish in the 100 meter dash, clocking an 11.28 to set a season-best. Patterson rebounded from lower than he wanted in the high jump to win two of the other three events. The sophomore won the shot put with a mark of 11.95 meters before taking the 400 meters in a scorching 51 seconds flat, a new career-best. Patterson remains in overall contention, sitting in fourth place with a score of 3,296 points. Clarke Latcham was the other Storm athlete in the decathlon, placing third in the high jump with a career-best mark of 1.84 meters, while clocking another career-best in the 400 meters with a time of 52.83.

Both Storm women in the heptathlon are in the top five after day one. Hays started the Storm women off on a high note by running a 17.03 in the 100 meter hurdles to claim third in the event. Hays also won the 200 meters in a time of 26.32, moving her into fifth place overall. Johnson was impressive in the field events, winning the high jump in a mark of 1.50 meters that moved her into second place. She currently sits third after day one with 2,345 points after winning the shot put in a season-best 10.12 meters.

The Storm multi competitors resume action at 10 a.m. tomorrow, before individual events begin around noon.