ALLENDALE, Mich.— Justin Thompson finished ninth in the long jump to lead the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks on the first day of action at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which got underway Thursday here at Grand Valley State University's Track & Field Stadium.
 
Two other Maverick individuals and the women's 4x100-meter relay team were also in preliminary action throughout the day as Sierra Arceneaux placed 13^th in the 100-meter dash after anchoring the relay team to a 12^th place finish.
 
Mica Jenrette is also in 13^th place through four events of the 7-discipline heptathlon that will continue on Friday.  She set two new personal bests.
 
Thompson, who will earn second team all-America honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for his effort, posted a jump of 7.48 meters (24 feet, 6 ½ inches) on his second of six attempts to better his national indoor championship finish of 11^th place.
 
Arceneaux clocked a time of 11.72 seconds in her preliminary heat of the 100 meters after combining with her twin sister Kierra, Serenity Burnett-Perry and Shaya Chenoweth for a time of 46.54 seconds in the relay, equal to seventh fastest in program history.
 
Earlier, Jenrette had scored 2,990 points in the first four events of the heptathlon.  She scored 850 in the 100-meter hurdles thanks to her time of 14.94 seconds, her second best effort in that event.
 
She then cleared 1.57 meters (5-1.75) in the high jump before turning a personal-best shot put mark of 11.02 meters (36-2).  Jenrette then turned in a personal-best time of 25.48 seconds in the 200 meters to close out her day.
 
Jenrette will continue the heptathlon at 10:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. Mountain) on Friday while teammate Kiana Jackson will contest the triple jump at 4:45 p.m. EDT (2:45 Mountain).  Arceneaux and Elijah Williams will also run in the preliminary heats of the 200-mber dash later in the afternoon.
 
The meet continues through Saturday.