University of Oklahoma Athletics

Strong Ends First Day At USATF Junior National Combined In 11th Place :: Sooner freshman has solid comeback from injury suffered last month.

Strong Ends First Day At USATF Junior National Combined In 11th Place :: Sooner freshman has solid comeback from injury suffered last month. Strong Ends First Day At USATF Junior National Combined In 11th Place

Sooner freshman has solid comeback from injury suffered last month.




Sooner Dan Strong, who will be a sophomore in the fall, is back in action at the US Junior National Combined Championships.

June 18, 2002

BERKELEY, Calif. - Sooner Dan Strong, who had to withdraw from the decathlon at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in May after an injury, returned to competition today and finished the first day of the US Junior National Combined Events Championships in 11th place with 3,065 points.

Donovan Kilmartin of Team Idaho leads after the first day with 3,949 points.

Strong had previously finished second in the decathlon at the Golden Panther Invitational in March and was sixth in the Kansas Relays in April. His point total at KU, 5,965, qualified him for the Junior National Championships. He injured his hamstring in the first event of the decathlon, the 100-meter dash, at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships last month, and was unable to continue the competition.

Strong struggled in the first event today, finishing the 100 with a 12.41. He had one of his better marks of the season in the long jump, finishing with a 20-2.5, good for 621 points. He had a strong performance in the shot put, scoring 608 points with a 39-5.25 before scoring 714 points with a 6-2.75 effort in the high jump. He finished the day with a 56.27 in the 400 to score 549 points. His first day total was just 120 points behind his first-day total at Kansas.

Strong's performances in the field events of the first day, long jump, shot put and high jump, were all better marks than he posted at Kansas but his 100 and 400 times were slower than what he ran at KU.

The real test of his rehabilitation efforts from the injury will come on Wednesday as he will compete in the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500. His second day is usually his best but his strength and stamina could be a factor. At the KU Relays, Strong scored 3,780 points on the second day of competition.

Several other Sooners are heading to California for competition in the U.S. Junior and Senior Nationals this weekend as other OU student-athletes are competing in their home country nationals in Jamaica and Canada this weekend as well.