Slow start for UNC in men's heptathlon

On the first day of the Tobacco Road Multis Thursday, injuries plagued the North Carolina’s men’s track and field heptathlon participants.

Redshirt senior Ryan Ramsey's hip injury flared up again. Redshirt sophomore Paul Haley's Hamstring and quadriceps issues. Both were limited in competition.

That left senior Joe Hutchinson — whose best event is the decathlon — and Nick Futia, who is just a freshman, to represent UNC.

The Tobacco Road Multis is a two-day event, and Thursday presented the first four events of the men’s heptathlon: the 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put and high jump.

So out came the senior Hutchinson and freshman Futia — the former having years of experience and the latter competing in his first official meet as a UNC athlete.

At the end of the first four events, Hutchinson stood in fifth place with 2,655 points and in sixth place was Futia with 2,393.

“Going into this meet, I didn’t have high expectations for myself,” Hutchinson said. “We have a process here and ACCs is when I’m trying to peak. I’m just trying to take as many positives as I can away from the meet.”

In the long jump, not much improved for the Tar Heels. Hutchison jumped 6.25 meters, and Futia jumped 5.82 meters. Both found themselves in the bottom two spots of the event and the overall competition at that point.

Hutchinson experienced the most success in the third event, the shot put. The senior notched a distance of 13.58 meters, which was good for second place in the event. Futia, still figuring his way through the newness of the heptathlon, finished with a distance of 12.04 meters.

Both athletes fell flat in the high jump, managing just 1.71 meters and tying for last.

Futia, who was competing in his first-ever multi-event, was doing his best to grasp and understand how to succeed at each event.

“I just wanted to do the best I could do and finish through the meet,” Futia said. “Doing a heptathlon is a lot different from doing just one or two events and we have a big day tomorrow, so hopefully I can finish it out.”

The athletes will finish off the heptathlon Friday with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and the 1,000-meter run.

Assistant Coach Josh Langley evaluated the senior and freshman based on their experience, but noted that both had room for improvement for today’s events.

“I think Joe is going to be disappointed in himself, just because the level he’s been at in the past, but he stayed composed,” Langley said. “For Nick, it’s his first-ever multi-event, so there were a lot of nerves, but I think it was important for him to get out here today and experience what a heptathlon is about.

“It’s a special camaraderie and brotherhood that goes with it.”

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