EUGENE, Ore. – The NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships began on Wednesday at the University of Oregon's historic Hayward Field. Competition got underway with the decathlon, and Manhattan College's Tom Bechert (Munich, Germany) was in 23rd place with 3500 points after five of the 10 events.
The decathlon began with the 100 meters and Bechert finished fourth in his heat, collecting 793 points with a time of 11.31 seconds. Up next was the long jump. After fouling on his first attempt, Bechert had to take a safety jump. His effort of 6.25 meters (20 feet, 6¼ inches) was good for 641 points. Bechert then collected 608 points in the shot put, recording a best mark of 12.02 m (39'5¼). In the high jump, Bechert earned 714 points with a clearance at 1.90 m (6'2¾). The day concluded with the 400 meters. Bechert poted a time of 51.57 seconds to add 744 points to his total, giving him a score of 3500 after Day One.
Bechert sits just four points behind Connecticut's Jesse Chapman. The leader is Jeremy Taiwo of Washington, whose current total is 4389.
Day Two of the competition gets underway with the 110 meter hurdles at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday. The discus, pole vault and javelin will follow before the decathlon concludes with the 1500 meters at approximately 10 p.m. EDT. The first four events will be webcast live on the Pac-12 website, while the 1500 meters will be a part of ESPN3's coverage from 6:50-11 p.m. EDT.
