MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Liberty and Coastal Carolina men are tied for No. 1 after the first day of the 2012 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships presented by Musco Lighting and UCS.  The Flames and Chanticleers each posted a team score of 27 points.

The men's hammer throw finished with a pair of Gardner-Webb athletes in the top three.  GWU's Carson Sears claimed the top spot with a throw of 200' 11".  In second was Ryan Smith of Liberty with a mark of 194' 11".  Travis Rodgers of Gardner-Webb placed third in the event with a throw of 179' 8".

Tyler Askew claimed the title in the men's open long jump with a mark of 24' 0.25".  Braxton Drummond of Charleston Southern was second with a leap of 23' 11".  Coastal Carolina's Burton Jones was the third-place finisher in the event with a jump of 23' 9.50".

The men's 10K finished up the first day with N'Getich Kipchirchir of Liberty on top of the podium with a time of 31:05.62.  Winthrop's Adam Freudenthal placed second with a clocking of 31:12.54.  Noah Hagos of VMI broke the tape in 31:18.98 to finish third in the event.

After day one of the decathlon, Jacob DeValve of Liberty and Tristan Faure of High Point are currently tied for No. 1 with 3,641 points.  Antonio Wood of VMI rounds out the top three with 3,581 points.

Day two of the 2012 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships presented by Musco Lighting and UCS will start on Friday, April 20 at noon.