Canada’s Pierce Lepage and USA’s Chelsea Carrier are the overnight leaders after the opening day of the 4th Pan American Combined Events Cup, being held this weekend at the Terry Fox Athletics Facility at Mooney’s Bay.
The fastest athletes in the field, Lepage and Carrier took the pole position from their first events and never relinquished the lead in their quest to claim their first international title.
Only in his second year as a decathlete, the 20-year old from Ontario totalled an impressive 4393 points after the first five days of the Decathlon, thanks to excellent performances in 100m (10.63), long jump (7.52m), high jump (2.06m) and 400m (47.64).
USA’s Scott Filip (4193) and Tim Ehrhardt (4136) are trailing in second and third thanks to outstanding performances that may lead them to personal bests after Day 2. Grenada’s 2015 Pan American Games silver medallist and 2015 World Championships Kurt Felix is ranked fourth with 4080.
Other Canadians, James Turner (3846) and Ottawa Lions’ Patrick Arbour (3773) are currently in seventh and eighth.
In the Heptathlon, Carrier, a former sprint hurdler, dominated that event with a windy 13.02 and cemented her lead with 24.13 in 200m. After a low par high jump, fellow American Quintunya Chapman improved her shot put best to 14.88m and ran a fast and windy 23.75 to move up to second overall with 3589, 21 points ahead of 2014 winner Jillian Drouin.
Two other Canadians, 2007 Pan American Games champion Jessica Zelinka (3554) and 2014 runner-up Natasha Jackson (3436) are currently in fifth and seventh place, respectively.
The Pan American Cup continues on Saturday with Day 2 of the elite field and Day 1 of the junior category. A total of 81 athletes from nine countries are taking part.
The event, hosted by the Ottawa Lions in the past four years, is an annual fixture on the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge Series and also serves as the Canadian Junior and Senior Championships for both the heptathlon and decathlon.
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