MARION, Ind. – Eli Stevens narrowly missed a pair of personal best marks on Day 1 of the decathlon at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the IWU Track Complex.
 
Stevens finished a gutsy opening day with 2,245 points – 15th in the 16-athlete field – despite a heavily wrapped left leg.
 
The junior, competing for the first time since an injury at the Cascade Conference Multi-Event Championships in mid-April, fought through pain in the two running events – posting times of 14.58 seconds in the 100-meters and 1:03.92 in the 400-meters.
 
Stevens was able to post a mark of 5.55 meters (18 feet, 2 ½ inches) in the long jump – the event he was injured in at the CCC meet – but had outstanding performances in both the shot put and high jump. After fouling in his first two attempts in the shot, Stevens launched his final attempt 11.77 meters (38-7) – six inches of his PR. In the high jump, he cleared the first four heights – including a mark of 1.81 meters (5-11 ¼), a quarter of an inch off his PR.
 
Day 2 of the decathlon begins at 7 a.m. (PDT) – with full coverage on the NAIA Network.