Evan Shimanek tied for second in the pole vault to give the team seven points. She cleared 12-1.5. Teammate Erinn Saughnessy finished 12th at 11-1.75.
While the seven points was slightly fewer than the seeding indicated for the Lady Bison, OBU performed well in other events and can still overcome a strong early showing by Azusa Pacific. The Cougars have a better-than-expected 21 points early.
The women's 100 hurdles took an interesting turn as a timing issue forced all three heats to be rescheduled for Friday as a semifinal after all three heats had been run Thursday.
The 4x100 relay, the women's 400 and the women's 800 meters all moved straight to semifinal action without the need for Thursday's scheduled trials.
The women's 4x800 relay moved on to the semifinals with a 9:09.15, which was the third-best trials time.
Jura Levy advanced to the semifinals in both the 100 and the 200. She had the second-best time in the 100 at 12.16 seconds and the third-best 200 time at 24.97.
Nikita Tracey moved forward in the 400 hurdles with the fastest time trial at 59.29 seconds. Aspen Marical missed the cut in 19th at 1:04.23.
On the men's side, the 4x800 relay advanced with the No. 7 time at 7:43.20.
Adam Godwin tied for first in the 1500 prelims, advancing to the semifinals at 3:52.57.
Airick Johnson moved to the semifinals with a 14.46 in placing second in his heat of the 110 hurdles. Ross Harlan also qualified for the semifinals in the 400 hurdles at 53.51, while Henry Caster was 25th at 56.25 and did not advance.
Justin Frye qualified in the 200 meters with a 22.35.
Neal Ellis was 18th and did not advance in the 3000 steeplechase, finishing in 9:48.37.
In OBU's only men's final of the day, Cordell Baker did not finish in the 10,000 meters.
Friday
9:30 a.m. - Men's Decathlon FINAL (Caleb Neal)
1 p.m. - Men's 110H semifinal (Airick Johnson)
1:20 p.m. - Women's 100H semifinal (Verone Chambers, Aspen Marical)
2:40 p.m. - Women's 100M semifinal (Jura Levy)
3 p.m. - Women's 400M semifinal (Chambers, Stacy Warrior)
3:20 p.m. - Women's 800M semifinal (Hannah Helker)
3:50 p.m. - Women's 4x100 semifinal (Chelsea Abinah, Verone Chambers, Uniqua Cooper, Jura Levy, Stacy Warrior)
4:25 p.m. - Women's 100H FINAL (Chambers, Aspen Marical)
4:40 p.m. - Men's 110H FINAL (Airick Johnson)
4:50 p.m. - Women's 100M FINAL (Levy)
5:15 p.m. - Women's 400H semifinal (Nikita Tracey)
5:35 p.m. - Men's 400H semifinal (Ross Harlan)
6 p.m.. - Women's 4x800 FINAL (Ashton Adams, Shondia Drew, Helker, Halie Herbert, Nikita Tracey)
6:20 p.m. - Men's 4x800 FINAL (Travis Bish, Rah'Man Byrd, Cody Comacho, Jory Custar, Adam Godwin, Ross Harlan)
8:15 p.m. - Women's 4x400 Relay semifinal (Chambers, Levy, Taylor Moore, Tracey, Warrior)
8:35 p.m. - Men's 4x400 Relay semifinal (Bish, Caster, Frye, Harlan, Travis Hinton)
