MEET CENTRAL

By Isaac Fernandez, Assistant SID 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Abi Stevens didn't just cement herself as the most decorated athlete in Southern Oregon University track and field history with a record-breaking 12th All-America performance on Thursday. She sweetened the milestone with her first national title, accumulating 3,824 points to win the pentathlon during Day 1 of the NAIA Indoor Championships.

Stevens, who last week was named NAIA West Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year, broke her school record of 3,678 points en route to becoming the first indoor champion in Raider women's track and field history. She also set an Alachua County Sports & Events Center facility record, surpassing the previous score of 3,647 points.

The senior from West Allis, Wis., set a personal best of 9.27 second in the 60-meter hurdles, finished second in the high jump, and fifth in both the shot put and long jump to position herself fourth overall with 3,015 points before the 800-meter finale – 84 points behind leader Mya Hines of Cumberlands (Ky.).

Stevens was the first to cross the finish line with a season-best time of 2:21.10, putting just enough space between herself and Hines (2:28.79) to steal the win by a 17-point margin.

"I just knew i needed to race hard if I truly wanted to win, which I did," Stevens said. "I figured out that I needed to beat (Hines) by at least seven seconds to take over first place so I planned to get out in front from the start with (Culver Stockton's) Delaney Straus, who is a really good 800 open runner, then try to kick as hard as I could in the last lap and not look back. And it worked."

SOU now has 10 individual titles in women's track and field history. This was the first since Jessa Perkinson – SOU's former record-holder for All-America honors – won the outdoor 5K in 2017.

"She absolutely deserves this national championship," said multi-events coach Joseph Dotson. "With the amount of work that she puts in, day in and day out, not only on the track but as a teammate. It's incredible to see it come to fruition."

Stevens returns to action as the No. 4 seed in the high jump at 1 p.m. Friday. It'll be the 13th national competition of her career; she's placed top-seven in each of the first 12.
 
Stevens Points Table
60m Hurdles — 9.27 (854) [PB]
High Jump — 1.74m (903) [1757]
Shot Put — 10.43m (558) [2315]
Long Jump — 5.50m (700) [3015]
800m — 2:21.10 (809) [3824]