Freshman Florida decathlete Gray Horn (Wapakoneta, Ohio) turned in the second-highest opening day decathlon score of any freshman in school history on Wednesday at the 82nd-annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and currently sits in fifth place, less than 100 points off the event’s leader, after the opening day of competition.  

Horn, competing in his first collegiate decathlon, finished the five events of the first day with a score of 3,835, which is just shy of Mike Morrison’s first-day freshman decathlon school-record score of 3,857, achieved at the 2007 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships.

Horn currently is 98 points off the event lead, held by Texas A&M’s Trinity Otto with 3,933 total points.

“Gray had a great first day competing in his first college decathlon just a few weeks after NCAA Indoors,” Florida multi-events coach Mellanee Welty said. “He ran a great 100m and was solid in the high jump, long jump and shot put. With a good second day, he will have a solid NCAA provisional mark.”

Horn opened the day with a lifetime personal-record time of 10.94 (-0.7) in the 100-meter dash to earn 874 points. He followed that up with strong performances in the long jump (23-4.75/7.13m), shot put (40-6.75/12.36m) and high jump (6-5/1.96m). Horn’s mark in the long jump placed him second in that event and earned him 845 points. He finished the day with a time of 52.09 in the 400-meter dash.

The final five events of the Texas Relays decathlon begin at 12 p.m. EST Thursday at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

The University of Florida is home of the 2009 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. For all of the latest information on Gator Track and Field, log on to www.GatorZone.com.

82nd-Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays – April 1-2, 2009 (Austin, Texas)

Men’s Decathlon Standings (Through Five Events)

1. Trinity Otto – Texas A&M (3,933)

2. Krzysztof Slupkowski – Wichita State (3,907)

3. Adolphus Jones – UT-Arlington (3,880)

4. Mat Clark – Northern Iowa (3,860)

5. Gray Horn – Florida (3,835)

6. Camille Vandendriessche – Abeline Christian (3,812)

7. Philip Adam – Rice (3,780)

8. Andrew Webb – Texas (3,772)

9. Justin Taylor – Wichita State (3,713)

10. Morgan Floyd – Houston (3,671)

11. Daniel Kinsey – Akron (3,653)

12. Tommy Wolfe – UT-San Antonio (3,649)

13. Chris Dickman – Wichita State (3,647)

14. Cory Roberts – Southeastern Louisiana (3,617)

15. Kenny Greaves – Texas (3,570)

16. DeShawn Shead – Portland State (3,472)

17. Nick Trubachik – Portland State (3,458)

18. Jordan Wehr – North Texas (3,390)

19. Isaac Murphy – unattached (3,383)

20. Shawn Schmidt – Texas (3,351)

Decathlon 100-Meter Dash  (RQS: 10.55)

4. Gray Horn – 10.94 (-0.7) – 874 points

Decathlon Long Jump (RQS: 7.34m)

2. Gray Horn – 23-4.75/7.13m (+2.7) – 845 points

Decathlon Shot Put (RQS: 16.80m)

13. Gray Horn – 40-6.75/12.36m – 628 points

Decathlon High Jump (RQS: 2.10m)

3. Gray Horn – 6-5/1.96m – 767 points

Decathlon 400-Meter Dash (RQS: 47.20)

13. Gray Horn – 52.09 – 721 points

END OF REPORT