MEET CENTRAL

LA GRANDE – Halfway through the Cascade Conference Multi-Event Championships, Abi Stevens is third place in the women's heptathlon and Coleton Urquhart is fourth in the men's decathlon for the Southern Oregon University track and field team.

Stevens, the junior nine-time All-American vying for her third consecutive top-three CCC finish, registered the best first-day score of her career. She accumulated 2,926 across four disciplines, sitting 77 points out of second place and 133 behind first-place defending champion Rebecca Dutchak of British Columbia.

Stevens got there by posting her fastest-ever 100-meter hurdles heptathlon time (15.06 seconds), her top high jump (5 feet 6 inches) of the season, and her top shot put (31-9 ½) and 200 (26.51) marks in two years. The result was a score 150 points higher than any other she has logged on an opening day.

Urquhart – a freshman competing in his first collegiate decathlon – put himself on track to become a potential surprise national qualifier. With 3,152 points through five disciplines, he sits just 19 outside of the top three. He fared well in his first 100 (11.75), 400 (52.61) and high jump (5-4 ¼) attempts of the spring, upended his previous long jump PR by over 20 inches (20-11 ¾) and nearly matched his PR in the shot put (38-7).

Eastern Oregon's TJ Davis has the lead with 3,641 points.

The decathlon resumes at 10 a.m. Friday, and the heptathlon at 10:15 a.m.

WOMEN'S HEPTATHLON (14 total entries)
3. Abi Stevens, 2,926
100m Hurdles – 15.06 (834); High Jump – 1.68m (830); Shot Put – 9.69m (509); 200m – 26.51 (753)

MEN'S DECATHLON (9 total entries)
4. Coleton Urquhart, 3,152
100m – 11.75 (701); Long Jump – 6.39m (673); Shot Put – 11.76m (592); High Jump – 1.63m (488); 400m – 52.61 (698)