WICHITA, Kan. – Tanner Brown jumped a big personal best in the high jump to join the two-meter club and hold a large lead after day one of the heptathlon at the Herm Wilson Invitational.
 
Brown leads the field with 3,066 points after recording the top mark in three of the four events.
 
"It was really fun watching him jump," head coach Steve Rainbolt said. "Right away in the warmup, it was evident that he was high jumping well. He's a wonderful athlete, and he's learning so much about all of these decathlon events."
 
He recorded a personal-best 12.81m/42-0.5 in the shot put after his first two events fell short of the marks he put up at the Shocker Multi in December.
 
"It's hard to put together, but if he can put it all together, he'll qualify for the national and be tough to beat in the American Athletic Conference," Rainbolt said. "[Tomorrow], I want him to try hard to relax, focus and take it one event at a time, but really focus on what he's doing as it relates to preparing for the American Championship."
 
Brown enters day two with a 146-point lead, while teammates Hudson Bailey and Davis Dubbert sit in fourth and fifth with four personal bests between the two of them on day one.
 
In the women's pentathlon, Anna Heacock was the lone Shocker to compete, placing fourth overall in the event. Heacock ran the fastest 60-meter hurdles race of the field with a time of 9.17.
 
The men's heptathlon wraps up Saturday morning starting with the 60-meter hurdles at 9:30 a.m. Field events for the remainder of the meet commence at 10 a.m., with running events getting going at 2 p.m.