Bryanna Craig leads the heptathlon after Day 1 at the Jim Green Invitational at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
Craig, a Purdue sophomore from Millville, opened with a 14.46 in the hurdles, fastest time in the event and good for 914 points. She cleared 5-5 ¼ in the high jump for 806 points and then threw the shot 35-4 for 580 points. She finished the first day of competition with a 25.27 in the 200 for 862 points.
With three events to go on Saturday, Craig leads the competition with 3,162 points, 185 more than 2nd-place Mia Manson, a senior at Michigan.
Craig set her lifetime-best 5,460 last May at the Big 10 Championships in Bloomington, Ind., where she placed 2nd to Iowa’s Tionna Tobias of Winslow.
She needs 2,299 points in the final three events to break her PR. Saturday’s schedule is long jump at 9:30 a.m., javelin at 10:30 a.m. and 800 at 1 p.m.
Craig’s PRs in the three remaining events are 18-7 ¼ in the long jump, 130-4 in the javelin and 2:12.34 in the 800.
Craig scored 5,285 points in her one previous multi this spring two weeks ago in Tucson, Ariz.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 