BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Set up nicely for his first All-American finish, University of Sioux Falls Track & Field's Teddy Frid is in eighth place after the first day of the NCAA Championships heptathlon. Long jumper Jada Carr competed in her first NCAA Championship meet and placed 16th on Thursday.
 
Through the first four of seven events, Frid compiled 2,853 points, placing him eighth in the 14-athlete field. In comparison to his previous heptathlon first-day best, Frid is 15 points ahead of his school record pace and heading into the second day's events of 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run, which will begin at 11:20 p.m. on Friday, March 10 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
 
In three of the first four events, Frid posted a time or mark that ranked in the top-seven of the field. Opening the two-day competition, Frid clocked a personal-best 7.20-second run in the 60-meter dash, seventh among the field and worth 813 points for his heptathlon score. In the long jump, Frid was just shy of his personal-best with a best leap of 6.65 meters (21 feet-10 inches). He solidified his seventh-place standing with 732 points in the long jump, bringing his two-event total to 1,545 points.
 
With an 11.36-meter (37-3.25) mark in the shot put, Frid slid one spot to eighth in the overall standings. His best mark was worth 568 points and was 13th among the championship heptathlon competitors, but he remained in the top eight with 2,113 points through the first three events.
 
Nearly hitting a personal-best in the high jump, Frid gained some ground back on his competition after the shot put with a best clearance of 1.93 meters (6-4.00) in the final event of the first day. Frid cleared his first three heights on the first attempt and after a miss at 1.90 meters (6-2.25), he cleared that bar on his next attempt. With a clean first attempt at 1.93 meters, Frid finished with the fourth-highest mark in the high jump among the field and added 740 points to his heptathlon total.
 
In her first NCAA Championship meet appearance, Carr proved she belonged in the deep women's long jump field. With a best leap of 5.52 meters (18-1.50), Carr finished 16th in the 20-athlete field and she was 6.5 inches out of a second-team All-American finish.
 
After a foul on her first jump, Carr hit her best mark of the day at 5.52 meters, which placed her in seventh in the first flight of jumpers. The Tyler, Minn. native recorded a 5.21-meter (17-1.25) jump on her final attempt of the prelims, finishing her first trip to the NCAA Championships.
 
In addition to Frid completing the men's heptathlon on Friday, USF's Courtney Crandall will compete in the women's pole vault, beginning at 3:30 p.m., and the men's foursome of Mason Phillips, Trey Furgeson, Zach Lundberg and Jase Kraft will race in the distance medley relay set for a 6:20 p.m. start.