GULF SHORES, Ala. – Day one of the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships came to an early conclusion Wednesday night as continued rain and thunder halted events. Eastern Oregon had all eight individuals compete, while just one of two relays were able to run.
The lone event that did not compete for the Mountaineers on day one was the women's 4x800-meter relay, which has been moved to Thursday. Punching their tickets to finals in respective events were
Morgan Bayes in the 400-meter hurdles and
Hunter Nichols in the 1,500-meter run. Also performing well on day one was
TJ Davis and
Judson Mansfield in the decathlon.
On the track, Bayes solidified her chance at All-American status with a top-eight qualifying time. She clocked a 63.07 to finish seventh in prelims and punch her tickets for finals. She will run again on Friday to determine where she will finish as an All-American.
Nichols also earned a spot in the finals as he was a top-12 finisher in the 1,500. He will now contend for a top-eight spot to potentially garner All-America status. In prelims, he ran a 3:55.43 and finished ninth overall. Also competing was
Jonathan Wind and he finished 19th overall with a time of 4:00.06.
In the decathlon, Davis currently sits third overall with 3,622 points while Mansfield is 12th with 3,196 points.
Davis had top-five finishes in all five events to help maintain a top-three spot overall. In the 100-meter dash, he ran a 11.34 to place third. In the long jump, he leaped 21-3 ¼ to place fourth and followed up with another fourth place finish in the shot put, throwing 40-4 ¼. In high jump, Davis cleared 6-2 ¼ to finish in a four-way tie for third. His best finish in the 400-meter dash, placing second with a time of 50.03.
Mansfield ran an 11.78 in the 100 to start the day and finished the day running a 53.67 in the 400. In the field events, his best finish was in the long jump as he tied for sixth with a mark of 20-11 ¾. He also tied for 10th in the high jump with a mark of 5-10 ¾ and was 12th in the shot put, throwing 36-2 ¾.
In the field events, three Mounties competed in
Maggie Ledbetter and
Kenna Woodward in the hammer throw and
Moses McAninch in the javelin. Ledbetter led the way as a whole with a 15th place finish, throwing 160-2. Woodward was 18th in the event as she cleared 156-9. In javelin, McAninch finished 19th overall as he chucked the spear a distance of 180-5.
The lone relay competing for the Mounties was the men's 4x100. The quartet of
DJ Wilson,
Mason Nichols,
Bryce Peters, and
Cody Milmine clocked a collective time of 42.28 and placed 31st overall.
Day two of Outdoor Nationals gets underway tomorrow, May 26 at 8 a.m. PT. The decathlon will wrap up with five events as Davis and Mansfield will look to secure podium finishes. Also competing in the field events will be
Allexander Kosel in the long jump and
Maggie Ledbetter in shot put at 12:30 p.m. On the track the women's 4x800 will run tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. in prelims. To see the full day two schedule for men and women, click the respective link above.
FOLLOW EOU ATHLETICS
