EMPORIA, Kan. – Day two of the Division II Track and Field Championships saw the Cougars earn points in both the men's and women's fields as Mark Burdin finished third in the decathlon while Kristina Rakocevic took second in the women's discus.

Finishing day one in fourth place, Burdin made his push for the top over the field events on day two of the decathlon, placing second in the field in the discus, pole vault, and javelin.  The junior set his third personal best of the meet in the pole vault by clearing 4.7 meters (15' 5"), then followed that up with another PB by tossing a javelin 53.28 meters (174' 10").  That left him a mere 53 points off the lead heading into the final event, the 1500-meter run.  Burdin finished fifth in the event, crossing the line in a time of 4:49.99, which earned a spot on the podium in third place with 7,441 points.  The bronze-medal placement earns six points in the overall team standings.  As Burdin is the only athlete the Cougars sent on the men's side, that means Azusa Pacific finishes the meet with 6 points, tied for 13th place entering the final day.

On the women's side, Emma Hein wrapped up the heptathlon in 11th place, cracking 5,000 points on the strength of a javelin toss of 42.24 meters (138' 7").  But the star of the day for the Cougars was Rakocevic, whose second throw of the day in the women's discus sailed a whopping 52.59 meters (172' 6"), which held onto the lead until the fourth round.  That throw ended up Rakocevic's best of the day, though five of her six attempts cleared 50 meters.  Her second-place finish earned the Cougars eight points toward the team standings, leaving them once again tied for 13th place on the women's side with Saturday's events still to be contested.

The Cougars have one final participant to compete on Saturday morning, as Hannah Richardson will be one of 22 women competing in the shot put, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Pacific time (12:30 p.m. Central).