JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Heptathletes took center stage at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships and among those were Ashford sophomore Aaron Yerk of Belvidere, Ill.

The Saints' indoor Midwest Collegiate Conference pole vault champion competed in four events as the national meet got underway yesterday.

Ashford assistant coach Tyson Graham provided this insight into Yerk's performance on Day 1.

"The 60-meter dash went okay, just an average day as he finished in 7.52 which put Aaron in 11th after one event.Stephon Arnold of Azusa Pacific (Calif.) won the event in 7.17!

Long jump wasn't good at all as we had some issues with steps, but after a misread by a judge we got a third attempt which was a 6.06m (worst of the season). But Aaron kept in good spirits and kept a good attitude as the rest of the field struggled in long jump as well.The jump was good enough for 12th in the event and he maintained his 11th place in the standings overall.

Shot put was also an average day as Aaron threw a toss of 11.26m which was good enough for sixth place overall in that event, moving him up to 10th place in the overall standings.

Next was high jump, which was a nice way to end the day as Aaron set a new personal record of 1.84 meters.However, the field did very well in the event as well as he finished 10th overall in that event which left him in 12th place overall after day 1.

Overall, it was just an average performance. We are hoping for personal records in three events tomorrow to boost the points up! My personal goal is for him to be able to score a point in eighth place, but it will take three PR's and break the school record. Aaron is trying to reach top six to be All-American, but some crazy things have to happen for that to occur. With vault and hurdles tomorrow ya never know when a no height or fall will happen, anything is possible! Right now he's about 47 points behind school record pace.

We have pole vault tomorrow where only 2 competitors have jumped higher than Aaron and practice has been going well with Vault as he made 14'6 four times in practice this week. On the flip side the 60 meter hurdles are tomorrow which is Aaron's most difficult race and he's only beat 1 competitor. The 1,000-eter run is always a hit and miss and anything can happen in that race. However, it seems he is a little fresher than usual (where usually he's spent after day 1) so hopefully that will help performances tomorrow!

Aaron has done a great job of staying calm and collected despite having some rough events today and came back in high jump with a personal record! That's the kind of attitude you must possess in order to compete well in a multi event!"