SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Adria Navajon claimed his second American Athletic Conference decathlon title as one of three Shockers to earn all-conference recognition on day two of the AAC Outdoor Championships at Park West Athletic Complex.
 
Navajon became a five-time AAC multi-events champion (three-time indoor heptathlon, two-time outdoor decathlon), scoring a personal-best 7,213 points and moving up to ninth all-time in Shocker history. The junior from Barcelona, Spain recorded the best or second-best mark in five of the 10 events.
 
Hudson Bailey joined him on the decathlon podium, placing third with 6,844 points to earn his second AAC all-conference honors after placing third in the indoor heptathlon earlier this year.
 
Luke Porter placing sixth with 6,415 points, and Tanner Brown completed his first decathlon in over two years to place seventh with 6,352 points. The decathlon squad scored a total of 21 points for the team.
 
In the heptathlon, Destiny Masters recorded the fourth-best score in conference championship history to claim the silver with 5,601 points and score eight points for the team.
 
"What people aren't aware of is that she's been significantly limited with a groin injury for the last four weeks, and it has felt like she has lost some of her sharpness, and she certainly felt that way, but she battled," head coach Steve Rainbolt said. "She had a heck of meet considering that she had such limited preparation in the last four weeks."
 
Rice's Eliza Kraule took the heptathlon win with the best score in conference championship history, 5,774. Both athletes earned First Team All-American recognition at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year and went 1-2 at the AAC Indoor Championships, as well.
 
"That was a heck of a competition between two First Team All-Americans," Rainbolt said. "I'm really proud of her coming in here and battling up in there for second place. Two or three weeks ago, I was just hoping we'd have her at the conference meet. "
 
Sadie Millard and Tess Roman also scored points for the team in the heptathlon, finishing fifth and eighth, respectively, with 5,159 and 4,911 points.
 
Freshman Josh Parrish claimed the Shockers' final podium finish of the day, placing third in the long jump with a mark of 7.59m/24'11". His performance earned him his first AAC all-conference recognition.
 
Also scoring points in the long jump, Chidera Okoro jumped a personal-best 6.02m/19'9" to tie for fifth, and Masters jumped 5.91m/19'4.75" to place eighth.
 
Parrish, along with Joseph Holthusen, also punched their tickets to Sunday's 110-meter hurdles final, running 14.09 and 14.23, respectively.
 
Anna Zimmer ended her Shocker career on a high, throwing a personal-best 14.50m/47'7" to place fifth in the shot put and improve her own mark at No. 6 all-time in Shocker history.
 
In the pole vault, Arantxa Cortez scored a point for the team with an eighth-place performance, clearing 3.58m/11'9".
 
Riley Vandaveer ran a personal-best 1:52.35 to get the auto qualifier to Sunday's 800-meter final, and Farrah Miller won her heat of the 800 meters in 2:13.33 to move on to the final.
 
Jenna Muma and Miranda Dick capped the night by scoring six points in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing fourth and eighth, respectively. Muma improved her No. 10 time in school history, running 10:50.73, and Dick ran 11:03.85.
 
Heptathlon – Day 2 Recap
Masters opened day two of the heptathlon with the second-farthest long jump mark of the day, jumping 5.90m/19'4.25". Rice's Eliza Kraule increased her lead from day one to 112 points, setting a new meet record with a jump of 6.14m/20'1.75". Sadie Millard jumped a personal-best 5.57m/18'3.25" to hold on to her sixth-place standing. In the javelin, Tess Roman threw another personal best and 10^th-farthest throw in Shocker history, 46.25m/151'9". Masters needed a big throw to regain the heptathlon lead and give herself a buffer going into the 800 meters. She came up a little short of what she needed, throwing 38.52m/126'4" and giving herself just a 32-point advantage. Kraule would need to win beat Masters by 3 seconds to take the win, which she ultimately accomplished.
 
Decathlon – Day 2 Recap
Navajon regained the decathlon lead in the discus, throwing 33.62m/110'3" to go up 47 points. Hudson Bailey maintained his third-place position with a throw of 33.85m/111'0", 213 points ahead of fourth place. Tanner Brown had the best decathlon discus throw for the Shockers, throwing 34.71m/113'10".
 
Navajon increased his lead with the second-best clearance of the day in the pole vault, jumping 4.40m/14'5.25" to go up 133 points. Bailey cleared 4.10m/13'5.25" to remain in third. Luke Czarnecki jumped a personal-best 4.20m/13'9.25" and ranked seventh overall, and Brown cleared the same bar to move up in eighth position.
 
In the javelin, Luke Porter threw a season-best 53.93m/176'11",m the second-best throw of the day. Porter went on to battle it out with Navajon in the 1500 meters, edging him out by less than a second to get the win.