EMPORIA, Kan.— Colorado Mesa University decathlete Dawson Heide shaved nearly nine seconds off his former personal-best in the 1,500 meters to cap the event and what ended up as a 5-time all-America career, the highlight of the day for a contingent of three Maverick athletes who were in action on Friday, Day 2 of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships here at Emporia State University's Welch Stadium.
 
Heide's stellar time of 4:54.03 in the 1,500 meters, his final run in a Maverick uniform allowed him to close out the decathlon with a season-best score of 7,226 points, the second highest in CMU history.  It was only 15 points off his year-old school record of 7,241 and was good for sixth place and the Mavs' first three team points of the national championships. 
 
He also earned first team all-America honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, which bestows those accolades to the top eight finishers.
 
Heide, a sixth-year senior out of Bayfield, Colorado, took fifth at last year's national championships with his school-record setting mark.  He also took fourth in the heptathlon at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships and fifth and tenth in that event in 2022 and 2024, respectively.
 
Earlier in the Friday's competition, Heide recorded a season-best pole vault clearance of 4.40 meters (14 feet, 5 ¼ inches), moving up to sixth place overall after temporarily dropping to seventh after a discus throw effort of 31.90 meters (104-8).  He then maintained his sixth place overall finish with a solid javelin throw effort of 54.71 meters (179-6).  He also had a solid time of 14.92 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles to open Day 2.
 
The Mavs also had two other athletes in action on Friday.
 
Sophomore Gaby Horton made her national championship debut in the preliminaries of the 200-meter dash.  She finished 21^st in 23.98 seconds.
 
Junior Eddie Kurjak also competed in the men's high jump but missed on all three of his attempts at 2.08 meters (6-9.75) after passing at the opening height of the competition (2.03 meters/6-8).
 
The Mavs will have three more jumpers in action on Saturday as Josie Coffey will contest the women's high jump while Zace Buckhold and Miller Jones will compete in the men's triple jump.