NCAA Track and Field: Hakim McMorris in 4th Place at Halfway Point of Decathlon

A tough day for senior Josh Johnson, who finished just 10th in the shot put.

Cal’s Hakim McMorris ran a strong 400 meters to end the afternoon, climbing to fourth place after Day 1 of the decathlon at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Oregon’s Hayward Field on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, it was a disappointing day for senior Josh Johnson, who entered the shot put competition as the No. 4 seed but failed to make the final round and finished in 10th place.

McMorris, seeded eighth in the two-day, 10 event competition, ran 46.97 seconds over 400 meters to score 960 points and move up one spot in the standings to fourth place.

The junior from Santa Ana finished fourth in the final heat of the 400 but also fourth overall. The top six times in the event came out of his heat.

While McMorris sits in fourth place, Thursday poses a challenge for him. Day 1 is his stronger day, and his five-event score of 4241 is well off his mark of 4444 at the Mt. SAC Relays in April.

The top three spots may be out of reach for McMorris. Ayden Owens-Delerme of Arkansas holds the first-day lead with 4490 points, collegiate record holder Kyle Garland is second at 4441 and Leo Neugebauer of Texas is third at 4435.

McMorris has a 26-point lead on Oregon’s Max Vollmer, fifth with 4215 points.

McMorris will contest the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters on Thursday. With a strong showing, McMorris could threaten Cal’s school record score of 8118, assembled by Mike Morrison when he won the 2011 NCAA title.

McMorris assembled five event bests at Mt. SAC but he didn’t match any of those on Wednesday.

In particular, his 10.68-second clocking in the 100 meters, while third best in the field of 23 athletes, was well off his best of 10.42. McMorris delivered a clutch third-round leap of 24-1 1/2 (7.35 meters) for the afternoon’s third-best mark in the long jump.

He finished 13th in the shot put at 44 feet, 0 inches (13.41m), more than 2 1/2 feet off his best. His clearance of 6-4 3/4 (1.95m) placed him 11th in the high jump, although he remained fifth in the overall standings entering the 400.

Johnson threw 63 feet, 7 1/2 inches (19.39m) on his first attempt, but never improved on it. He missed making the final and getting three more throws by just one spot.

Johnson’s career best is 65-11 and the senior was hoping, in his final collegiate meet, to topple Dave Porath’s 1981 school record of 66-3.

Texas senior Adrian Piperi won the shot with a monstrous first-round throw of 70-7 1/4 (21.52).

Cal’s Ivar Moisander, in his first NCAA meet, placed 20th in the men’s hammer throw, exactly where he was seeded. The sophomore from Falun, Sweden threw 215-7 (65.70m), about eight feet shy of his best.

Cover photo of Cal senior Josh Johnson by Isaac Wasserman

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo