Granillo in 1st place in decathlon after first day of ESU Multis
By C.J. Moore
Friday, April 10, 2009
Emporia State freshman Tony Granillo didn’t really know what to expect going into the first day of the decathlon at the ESU Multis.
“I just wanted to get through it and see how it goes,” he said.
Granillo made it through and emerged on Thursday in first place. Is that what he expected?
“Honestly, I didn’t,” he said.
That’s because Granillo was competing in his first-ever decathlon. His teammate, junior Cole Davis, was competing in his second decathlon and is in second place after five events.
Granillo built his lead with the best long jump on the day and by finishing second in the 400 meters. Granillo’s specialty is the long jump, and he jumped a personal-best 22 feet, 1/4 inch.
The 400 meters was the final event of the day, and the athletes returned to the track after moving to the gym in the HPER building for the high jump and shot put because of the rain.
Running under the lights and into a strong wind for half the race, Granillo won the first heat and held onto the lead that he had going into the final event of the day.
“I’m so excited that he’s up there as a freshman,” ESU coach Dave Harris said. “I know he’s excited, probably building some confidence right now.”
Davis shined in his best event, the high jump. He had the best jump of all the competitors, jumping 6 feet, 2.75 inches. He rolled his ankle on one of the jumps, which he said hampered his performance in the 400 meters.
Davis competed last year in the decathlon while at Pratt Community College and said he was more prepared this year.
“Last year was pretty rough, he said. “I didn’t have the coaching staff that we have here. We have a great coaching staff and lots of graduate assistants that can help us in individual events. I didn’t have a lot of coaches at Pratt, so I kind of had to muscle through and figure some things out on my own. This year has just been a great opportunity to learn a lot from the coaching staff. I’ve improved a lot. “
The decathlon will finish today with the 110-meter hurdles, the discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters. Granillo said he was worried about the throwing events, while Davis believed his weakest event could be the 1,500 meters.
Harris is just hoping his athletes are ready for the conditioning challenge that the second day will bring.
“This is so new to them that they really don’t even know what it is like to do a decathlon,” he said. “(Today) what you’re going to find is day two, and they’re going to come out here and their bodies are going to experience something that they haven’t before. ... That’s going to be a little tougher. I’m going to be a realist. That’s when we’re going to find out what it’s like, because that second day is tough.”
In the women’s heptathlon, Emporia State freshman Justine Davenport is in 13th place and freshman Kaylea Goff is in 18th after four events.
The decathlon resumed today at 10:30 a.m. and the women’s heptathlon started at 11:30 a.m.
The Division II Challenge, which was scheduled to start today, has been moved to Saturday at 11 a.m.