JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Preparation paid off in a big way for Ashford University's qualifiers at the NAIA's Track and Field Indoor National Championships on Friday as selected Saints had a chance to showcase their talent in individual events on Friday.

Sophomore Aaron Yerk of Belvidere, Ill., completed the heptathlon to help him climb to 11th place overall with 4,312 points.

The reigning indoor and outdoor conference pole vault champion took third overall in his best event on the national stage, clearing 4.15m and set a new personal record in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.54 seconds.

Yerk added a 16th-place performance in the 1,000-meter run, clocking in a 3:18.61. At the time he completed the pole vault, Yerk moved into ninth in the overall standings.

Staying with the field events, sophomore A.J. Smith of Port Byron, Ill., cleared his opening height. He cleared 6'6" to place 14th, two slots above his pre-event seeding.

Freshman Christian "Ed" Awah of Willow Springs, Ill., has been kind of enough to provide a daily blog of his experiences (Click here to read).

In his first national meet, Away, was just 0.02 seconds away from reaching the semifinals, needing to finish in the top 12 to advance in the 60-meter hurdles. Awah clocked in at 8.39 seconds.

Senior Franklin Barnes of Chicago, also competed in the 60-meter hurdles and finished 31st in the preliminaries at 8.93 seconds.

Freshman Nkemdilim Okwumabua of Rockford, Ill., also was on the verge of qualifying for the semifinals in the 600-meter run, but fell just shy with a time of 1:38.05. That time was good for a personal record.

Freshman shot put qualifier Spencer Touchie of Hometown, Ill., and high jumper Heather Ketcham of Byron, Ill., were scheduled to compete today.