Patterson battles at NCAA Outdoor National Championships

GENEVIA, Ohio - Facing tough weather conditions at the opening day of action of the NCAA Outdoor National Championships, Ulysses Patterson finished 15th in the decathlon.

Patterson's day began in the rain with the 100m dash, placing 17th with a time of 11.46 seconds for a total of 761 points. The second event, long jump, helped move Patterson up the standings, placing 14th with a mark of 6.43m.

In the shot put, Patterson put up a best mark of 9.86m, placing him 18th event and moving him to 17th overall. Patterson followed it up with a fifth place finish in the high jump, clearing 1.88m on his second attempt to tie for a top-five mark. With the 696 points in the high jump, Patterson moved up one spot to 16th.

For the final competition of the day, Patterson ran a 52.04 in the 400m, earning him 723 points.

After the first events, Patterson sits in 15th with 3339 points. The top-eight finishers in the event will earn first team All-American honors and 9-16 will be named second team.

The decathlon is set to resume at 9:00 a.m. CST tomorrow, Friday, May 23 with the 110m hurdles. The second day of action will also feature the discus, pole vault, javelin, and finally 1500m race to conclude the competition for Patterson.