SACRAMENTO, Calif. – University of Oregon‘s Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen both benefited from consistent performances as the pair own shares of the lead after the first day of the decathlon and heptathlon, respectively, in the Sacramento State Nike Elite Invitational Thursday at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.

Eaton, who encountered a tough first day in the heptathlon in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships before rebounding to finish sixth in the seven-event competition earlier this month, displayed few effects from that outing as he posted personal bests in three of five events in his first decathlon of the season. The Bend standout accumulated his first-day personal best of 4,215 points to share the lead with Darius Draudvila and position himself within reach of the NCAA outdoor championships qualifying mark of 7,500 points.

Not to be outdone was Theisen, who was competing in her first multi-event completion of her collegiate career. The Canadian freshman turned in a PR in the shot put and finished no worse than third in any of the four phases of the heptathlon to end the day with 3,252 points. The automatic NCAA qualifying standard in that event is 5,500 points as she approaches her final three events of the competition Friday.

“Ashton was much more composed today, and it helps that this is a relaxed atmosphere and a low-key meet,” Oregon Associate Head Coach Dan Steele said. “He (long jump) jumped well and it’s nice to see more consistency. He’s capable of jumping 25 feet every time.

“We tried not to put too much emphasis on this meet and see if we might be able to get a qualifying mark. You really have to have the right frame of mind (in the decathlon) and he took a business-like approach. He had a great first day and if he can have a good day tomorrow, we will really be pleased.”

Steele was equally impressed with Theisen, if for no other reason because she was competing in only her second outdoor track meet as a collegian.

“She had a great day and it’s only March,” Steele emphasized. “This time of the year, you don’t expect a lot of PRs. She was a bit of a surprise but a pleasant one.”

Eaton enjoyed his greatest success in the long jump despite benefiting from an aiding +5.0 tail wind. He jumped 25-feet, three-quarters of an inch to score 970 points in one of his two events where he posted the highest score. He concluded the day with a time of 47.00 seconds in the 400, with his two-second advantage and 958 points allowing him to pull even with the former Kansas State standout after the first day of competition.

Eaton also recorded a PR in the high jump at 6-5 as he aims to better his personal decathlon best of 6,977 points set last season in Tucson, Ariz.

Oregon sophomore Marshall Ackley stands in fourth place in the decathlon with 3,217 points, while Eugene sophomore Aaron McVein tallied 2,675 points through four events in his first multi-event competition before not starting the 400 meters.

Theisen made her outdoor debut at Hayward Field less than a week ago, winning the 100-meter hurdles and long jump, while finishing third in the 200. But Steele couldn’t have expected the freshman to do so well in her first heptathlon at the collegiate level. After finishing with the third-best mark and 920 points in Thursday’s 100 hurdles, the Humboldt, Saskatchewan standout cleared the top height (5-7) in the high jump, set a personal best of 36-9.75 in the shot put while finishing with the second-best score (610 points), and turned in the fastest time in the 200 (25.22).

Her first-day score stands 112 points ahead of second-place Dani McNaney (3,140 points), and 161 points ahead of the Ducks’ Kalindra McFadden (3,091). Oregon’s Erin Funkhouser is in seventh place with 2,536 points.

“All of the kids did a good job and are competing well,” Steele said. “The young ones want to set a PR in every event but that’s not realistic. Basically, we just wanted to get our feet wet and prepare ourselves for big things ahead.”

First-Day Decathlon Results

T1. Ashton Eaton, Oregon, and Darius Draudvila, Unattached, 4,215; 3. Adam Fretwell, Kansas St., 3,699; 4. Marshall Ackley, Oregon, 3,217; 5. Robert Brazier, Sacramento St., 3,211; 6. Justin Taylor, Wichita St., 2,956; 7. Aaron McVein, Oregon, 2,675; 8. Tom Pappas, Nike, 2,528.

100 – 1. Darius Draudvila, Unatt., 10.73 (922); 2. Ashton Easton, Ore., 10.82 (901); 3. Tom Pappas, Nike, 10.93 (876); 4. Adam Fretwell, Kan. St., 11.06 (847); 5. Justin Taylor, Wich. St., 11.31 (793); 6. Luke Marker, Unatt., 11.32 (791); 7. Aaron McVein, Ore., 11.37 (780); 8. Marshall Ackley, Ore., 11.40 (774); 9. Robert Brazier, Sac. St., 11.79 (693). (wind: +3.4).

Long Jump – 1. Ashton Eaton, Ore., 25-0.75w (970); 2. Darius Draudvila, Unatt., 23-11w (883); 3. Adam Fretwell, Kan. St., 23-0.75w (821); 4. Justin Taylor, Wich. St., 21-8.75w (725); 5. Aaron McVein, Ore., 20-10.75w (668); 6. Robert Brazier, Sac. St., 20-3.5 (626); 7. Marshall Ackley, Ore., 19-6w (574); 8. Luke Marker, Unatt., 16-2.25w (369). Tom Pappas, Nike, nm.

Shot Put – 1. Tom Pappas, Nike, 52-10.25 (858); 2. Darius Draudvila, Unatt., 47-2.25 (752); 3. Justin Taylor, Wich. St., 40-11.75 (636); 4. Ashton Easton, Ore., 40-0.75 (619); 5. Adam Fretwell, Kan. St., 39-1.25 (602); 6. Marshall Ackley, Ore., 37-10.5 (579); 7. Luke Marker, Unatt., 34-10.5 (524); 8. Aaron McVein, Ore., 34-4 (513); 9. Robert Brazier, Sac. St., 34-0.75 (508).

High Jump – 1. Darius Draudvila, Unatt., 6-7.5 (822); 2. Tom Pappas, Nike, 6-6.25 (794); 3. Ashton Easton, Ore., 6-5 (767); 4. Aaron McVein, Ore., 6-2.75 (714); 5. Adam Fretwell, Kan. St., 6-1.5 (687); 6. Robert Brazier, Sac. St., 5-8.75 (585); 7. Luke Marker, Unatt., 5-7.75 (560); 8. Marshall Ackley, Ore., 5-4.25 (488); Justin Taylor, Wich. St., nh.

400 – 1. Ashton Easton, Ore., 47.00 (958); 2. Darius Draudvila, Unatt., 49.54 (836); t3. Marshall Ackley, Ore., 50.27 (802), and Justin Taylor, Wich. St., 50.27 (802); 5. Robert Brazier, Sac. St., 50.35 (799); 6. Adam Fretwell, Kan. St., 51.60 (742); 7. Luke Marker, Unatt., 52.53 (702); Tom Pappas, Nike, dnf; Aaron McVein, Ore., dns.

First-Day Heptathlon Results

1. Brianne Theisen, Oregon, 3,252; 2. Dani McNaney, Unattached, 3,140; 3. Kalindra McFadden, Oregon, 3,091; 4. Moira Robinson, Sacramento St., 3,083; 5. Bridget Johnson, Team XO, 2,989; 6. Stephanie Hejde, Kansas St., 2,826; 7. Erin Funkhouser, Oregon, 2,536; 8. Naima Goodwin, Sacramento St., 2,406.

100 Hurdles – 1. Dani McNaney, Unatt., 14.01w (977); 2. Moira Robinson, Sac., St., 14.17w (954); 3. Brianne Theisen, Ore., 14.42w (920); 4. Kalindra McFadden, Ore., 14.52w (906); 5. Bridget Johnson, Team XO, 15.14 (823); 6. Erin Funkhouser, Ore., 15.68 (754); 7. Stephanie Hejde, Kan., St., 15.93 (723); 8. Naima Goodwin, Sac. St., 16.73 (627).

High Jump – 1. Brianne Theisen, Ore., 5-7 (855); t2. Moira Robinson, Sac. St., 5-4.5 (783), Kalindra McFadden, Ore., 5-4.5 (783); t4. Bridget Johnson, Team XO, 5-3.25 (747), Dani McNaney, Unatt., 5-3.25 (747); 6. Stephanie Hejde, Kan., St., 5-1 (678); 7. Erin Funkhouser, Ore., 4-10.5 (610); 8. Naima Goodwin, Sac. St., 4-8.25 (544).

Shot Put – 1. Bridget Johnson, Team XO, 30-5 (662); 2. Brianne Theisen, Ore., 36-9.75 (610); 3. Stephanie Hejde, Kan., St., 36-1.5 (596); 4. Kalindra McFadden, Ore., 35-11.5 (592); 5. Dani McNaney, Unatt., 35-6.75 (585); 6. Moira Robinson, Sac. St., 34-0 (553); 7. Naima Goodwin, Sac. St., 33-10.25 (550); 8. Erin Funkhouser, Ore., 28-7.5 (446).