Mount St. Mary's junior leads Penn Relays decathlon

It was no day at the beach competing Tuesday at the Penn Relays, with rain, temperatures in the mid-50s, and winds of almost 20 mph swirling inside a nearly empty Franklin Field, but D.J. Workcuff handled the miserable conditions just fine in the decathlon.

Workcuff, a junior from Mount St. Mary's, finished first in three events and held a sizable lead after the opening day of the 10-event competition with 3,479 points.

"Not the ideal day to run track and compete," Workcuff said, "but it's just one of those things that you've got to deal with. There's nothing you can do about it. It's just one of those things you have to get used to. I just try to stay focused and pretty much pretend like it's not even there."

In the heptathlon, sophomore Janelle Perry of Ursuline College in Ohio led after four events, scoring the most points in the two running events and finishing the day with 2,769 points.

The wind and rain didn't help Workcuff's marks in the events he won. A qualifier for the 100 meters in the upcoming IC4A championships, he ran 11.09 seconds in the dash. He also long-jumped 21 feet, 113/4 inches and ran the 500 in 51.84, both efforts the best among the five competitors.

"I wanted my 100 time to be under 11, definitely," he said. "But I can't complain with the conditions. Overall I'm feeling pretty good and just want to come out strong on day two."

Workcuff also high-jumped 6-01/4 (second) and threw the shot put 33-83/4 (fourth).

Alex Bonitto of Franklin Pierce in New Hampshire won the shot put and ended the day in second place with 3,077 points. Philippe Baril of Laval (Quebec) was close behind with 3,065 and teammate Peter Nsaka Malonge, who won the high jump, was fourth at 3,040.

Perry won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.10 seconds and the 200 in 26.19. Mary Adeyeye of Albany won the shot put and held second with 2,637 points, and Western Michigan's Allison Hufnagel, who took the high jump, was third with 2,608.