MIAA Decathlon/Heptathlon Final

May 1, 2001

Kingery Places Second in MIAA Decathlon; McDuffey Fourth in Heptathlon

Truman State University sophomore Jake Kingery (Monroe, Iowa/Prairie City-Monroe) won five events and brought home a second-place finish from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association decathlon competition in Emporia, Kan.

Kingery's career-high 7,033 points in the decathlon is good enough for an NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark. He had previously earned a provisional mark with 6,558 points, which ranked ninth among Division II automatic and provisional qualifiers.

Kingery, who posted three victories on the opening day of the conference decathlon, added two more wins on Monday. In all, he won the shot put (45'-7"), high jump (6'-7"), 400-meter dash (50.41 seconds), javelin (193'-7") and 1,500-meter run (4:53.11).

The MIAA champion was Pittsburg State's Joe Peppers, who finished with 7,101 points. Kingery ended 16 points ahead of third-place finisher, Aaron Crossley of Central Missouri.

Truman's other top decathlete, senior and defending conference champion Chad Froelker (Owensville, Mo.), withdrew from the competition after Day 1 due to a hamstring injury. He was fifth with 3,614 points after the opening day. Froelker, last year's NCAA Division II runner-up in the decathlon, could still compete at the NCAA meet later this month in Edwardsville, Ill.

On the women's side, freshman Jackie McDuffey (Pineville, Mo./McDonald County) tallied 4,246 points in the heptathlon and placed fourth behind a 1-2-3 finish for Emporia State. McDuffey collected a win in the 800-meter run (2:30.67) on Monday after earning third-place finishes on Sunday in the 100-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash.

ESU's Emilee Hamlin scored 4,726 points for first place.

The decathlon/heptathlon are the first events of the 2001 MIAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The remainder of the meet will be held this weekend, May 5-6, at Hughes Stadium on the campus of Missouri Southern State College in Joplin.

Current standings in the MIAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships have PSU leading the men's side with 10 points, followed by Truman with eight. In women's action, ESU is first with 24 points, while Truman is second with four.