RENO, Nev. – With two more meets left in the indoor season, Azusa Pacific returned once again to the University of Nevada, this time to let their multi-event athletes take their shot at the Wolf Pack Classic and Combined Event.

The Cougars sent four challengers into the men's heptathlon, and at the end of the first day they were in a group between sixth and tenth in a field of 17.  Mark Burdin was leading the quartet, having put up the best result of anyone in the competition in the shot put at 47' ¼", which translated into 749 points for the event and 2,762 points through the opening day.  Just 14 points behind him in seventh was Hayden McKee, who cleared 6'3 ½" in the high jump to close out day one.  

On day two, Burden's 8.87 in the 60-meter hurdles propelled him into a tie for fourth with two events to go, while McKee kept pace with an 8.88.  Burdin added to his total by clearing 14' 9" in the pole vault, good enough for second in the event, while Finn Coene put up an impressive 14' 1 ¼" to place third.  That left Burdin just 62 points off the lead heading into the final event.    In the end, the Cougar quartet of Burdin, Coene, McKee, and Jaroslav Sivuha finished one right after the other in the standings, from fifth to eighth place, respectively.

The Cougars only had one competitor in the women's pentathlon, but Emma Hein put in a good showing, finishing 7th out of 16 athletes with 3,634 points, rising up the standings as the day went along on the strength of third-place finishes in the shot put (40' 4") and 800 meter run (2:21.95).

Up Next: The Cougars will be right back in Reno for the final indoor meet scheduled before the national championships, competing in the Battle Born Classic on Friday 13 and 14.