Competing in their first-ever decathlon, Thomas Kling and Gabriel Parker placed third and fourth Friday as COD remains on top entering the final day of competition at the NJCAA Track and Field Championships in Utica,, N.Y.

Back-to-back champion COD has 70.5 points through 11 events with 11 remaining. The Chaps own an eight-point lead over Mineral Area.

Kling and Parker totaled 11 team points and 10,000-meter runners Caleb DeBoer (third), Nicholas Keeling (sixth) and Timothy O'Leary (seventh) dominated in their event to keep COD on top.

Dustyn Kocsis placed seventh in the discus.

Noah Mack reached Saturday's finals in both the 100 and 200, while teammates Graham McAninch (400 and 400 hurdles), Anthony Eddy (800, 1500) and Sebastian Esparza (800, 1500) joined with a pair of finals efforts in the prelims.

The 4 x 400 relay of Derek Erdman, pole vault national champ Jack Sauder, Derek Erdman and McAninch had the eighth-best qualifying time at 3:30.64.

Randy Almarales (800) and Alex Mendez (400 hurdles) reached the finals in their events.

NJCAA Track and Field Championnships
May 11-13, 2023
Mohawk Valley CC | Utica, N.Y.
Day 2 Results

Team (11 of 22 events) — 1. Chaparrals 70.5, 2. Mineral Area 62.5, 3. Thaddeus Stevens 34, 4. RC Gloucester 31, 5. Hudson Valley 30, 6. Joliet Junior College 25, 7. Harper 23.5, 8. Mohawk Valley 23, 8. SUNY Broome 23, 10. Howard CC 20.5.
Finals
10,000 — 3. Caleb DeBoer 34:35.61, 6. Nicholas Keeling 35:46.70, 7. Timothy O'Leary 35:55.60.
Discus — 7. Dustyn Kocsis 121-7, 10. Isaias Lopez 116-0.
Decathlon — 3. Thomas Kling 4,791, 4. Gabriel Parker 4,576
Preliminaries
100 — 3. Noah Mack 10.76 *
200 — 3. Noah Mack 21.92 *
400 — 5. Graham McAninch 50.68 *, Alex Mendez 51.83, Derek Erdman 52.21
800 —3. Anthony Eddy 2:00.71 *, 6, Sebastian Esparza 2:01.88 *, 7. Randy Almarales 2:03.24 *
1,500 — 1. Anthony Eddy 4:09.39 *, 5. Sebastian Esparza 4:09.97 *, Sheldon Powell 4:19.60.
400 hurdles — 4. Graham McAninch 58.25 *, 5. Alex Mendez 58.45 *
4 x 400 relay — 8. 3:30.64 (Derek Erdman, Jack Sauder, Randy Almarales, Gabriel Parker) *
Thursday preliminaries
4 x 100 relay — 1. 42.82 (Gabriel Parker, Noah Mack, Derek Erdman, Graham McAninch) *
*Qualified for Saturday's finals