PUEBLO, Col. – Shippensburg University's Mason Boyd delivered an excellent start to his eleventh and final collegiate decathlon on Thursday, compiling 3,750 points and an eighth-place position through the first five events in competition at the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships being held at the Colorado State University Pueblo ThunderBowl.
 
Boyd is ahead of his Day 1 pace of two weeks ago at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships when he set his personal best and school record of 6,955 points in competition at Slippery Rock.
 
Competing on a sunny, 74-degree day, Boyd delivered season bests in three of his five events Thursday and posted a higher score than he did at the PSAC Championships in four of the five Day 1 events.
 
Boyd began with a strong start, running the 100-meter dash in 11.04 seconds for a total of 852 points – coming within .01 seconds of his personal best (Boyd ran 11.05 seconds for 850 points at the PSAC Championships).
 
He continued his momentum into the long jump with a mark of 22 feet, 11 ¾ inches (6.99 meters) on his first attempt that netted 811 points (Boyd jumped 6.76 meters for 757 points at PSACs). The long jump was the sixth-best of the competition.
 
In the shot, Boyd came within .15 meters of his PSAC Championships pace – recording a top mark of 35 feet, 3 inches (10.74 meters) for 530 points.
 
After an early adjustment to his form, Boyd began clearing the bar with regularity in the high jump. His season-best clearance of 6 feet, 2 ¾ inches (1.90 meters) resulted in another 714 points (Boyd cleared 1.87 meters for 687 points at PSACs).
 
Concluding the day, Boyd delivered in the 400 meters with a time of 49.39 seconds that led to 843 points (Boyd ran 49.48 seconds at PSACs for 839 points).
 
Boyd, who is making his NCAA Outdoor National Championships debut, sits 33 points ahead of Lock Haven's Matt Muthler and is just 26 points behind seventh-place Otto Knittel of Missouri S&T.
 
Competition resumes at 11:30 a.m. Eastern (9:30 a.m. local time).