Sullins dominates field on first day of John McDonnell Invitational on Thursday

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ men kicked off the John McDonnell Invitational Thursday afternoon with two athletes in action at John McDonnell Field.

Erich Sullins highlighted the day for Arkansas with a first-place finish in the hammer throw, closing competition with a best mark of 65.95m (216-4), winning by more than 15-feet over the second-place finisher.

The win for Sullins is his sixth on the year including the indoor season that yielded four individual victories.

Daniel Spejcher made his Arkansas debut Thursday afternoon in the men’s decathlon finishing day one with a five-event total of 3,439-points.

Spejcher opened up with an 11.25 in the 100-meters earning 806-points.

Event two of the day saw Spejcher jump to a mark of 6.57m (21-6.75) in the long jump for 713-points.

From the long jump, the competition moved to the shot put where Spejcher used a fourth-place finish in the event to earn 686-points with a best throw of 13.31m (43-8).

A clearance of 1.75m (5-8.75) in the high jump netted the freshman 585-points.

Spejcher finished the day with a run of 53.77 in the 400-meters to finish with a day one total of 3,439-points, currently sitting in sixth-place.

Arkansas will return to John McDonnell Field for day two of the John McDonnell Invitational with the combined events getting underway at 10:30 a.m.