ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Thunderstorms halted competition for a second-straight day at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, but not enough of a delay to stop two Oregon Tech athletes from solid performances at Karl Straus Track.
 
Eli Stevens used a gutsy Day 2 performance in the decathlon to place ninth, while in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Braedan Doherty was in striking distance to qualify for Friday's finals with three laps remaining, but was unable to keep the pace and finished 23rd.
 
Stevens finished the decathlon with 6,548 points – climbing as high as eighth-place after clearing 4.65 meters (15 feet, 3 inches) in the pole vault. The senior gave a valiant effort in the 1,500-meters to chase down an All-America honor, clocking a personal-best time of 4:45.80 – but finished 60 points shy of the eighth-place position. He added a 16.68 second 110-meter hurdle race, threw the discus 34.02 meters (117-7) and had a mark of 43.61 meters (143-1) in the javelin.
 
Doherty finished ninth in his section of the steeple with a time of 9:38.02 – missing the final by 14 seconds.
 
OIT closes out the meet on Friday, as Stevens competes in the pole vault at 6 a.m. (PDT) and Amina Redfield throws the javelin at 11 a.m. (PDT)