WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (March 22, 2007) - Freshman Nicolas Chernikow (Seymour, Tenn.) currently is in 10^th place after completing day one of the Deacon Combined Events on Thursday afternoon at Kentner Stadium, located on the campus of Wake Forest University.

            Chernikow, looking to build his repertoire in the decathlon, kicked off the day with a solid start in the 100-meter dash, taking the top spot in his section with a time of 11.29. Overall, he picked up 797 points in the event area with a fourth-place finish.

            In the meets second event, Chernikow ended with a leap of 20-09.75 (6.34m) in the long jump, placing him ninth with 661 points. Chernikow tallied 1,954 points after three events as he picked up 496 points in the shot put.

            There was a log jam in the high jump, as five athletes were tied for seventh and another five were tied for 12^th. Chernikow cleared 5-08 (1.73m), resulting in one of the five student-athletes tied for the 12^th slot and 569 points.

            The final competition of the afternoon ended with a 400-meter sprint, and the multi-star athlete finished with a top-10 performance. The Tennessee native accumulated 743 points with his seventh-place finish, posting a mark of 51.58.

            A pair of Penn athletes hold the top three spots with Kyle Calvo (Pennsylvania) leading the pack with 3,798 points. Chernikow did gain ground throughout the day as he was in 14^th after the first three events on Thursday, and eventually moved up four spots after the final two.  

            The decathlon will resume Friday morning with the 110-meter hurdles kicking things off at 10:15 a.m. For live results and updated meet information please visit http://flashresults.com/2007_Meets/outdoor/wake07/.