PUEBLO, Colo. -- Senior Derek Bredy finished second in the long jump to lead the Minnesota State University Moorhead track and field contingent at the opening day of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which are being held in Pueblo, Colo.

Bredy's runner-up finish at the nationals -- which earned him All-American honors -- is the best of his storied Dragon career, which includes 12 school records and 16 conference championships.  The senior unleashed a jump of 24-11 -- beating the school record of 24-7 1/2 he set at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Championships earlier this month -- to finish second.  That jump came on his fifth attempt.

He trailed only Jeffery Henderson of Stillman, who won the event at 25-7 1/2. The finish gave MSUM eight team points at the meet. In fact, Bredy learned of his placing while he was in the blocks to compete preliminaries in the 400-meter dash.

"It was more of a relief to come here and accomplish something like that," Bredy said. "I knew I had a bigger jump in me. I had scratched on the attempt before. It was nice to get that. It definitely put a smile on my face."

Bredy's day wasn't over after his strong showing in the long jump. The senior then ran a time of 46.83 -- narrowly missing a personal best -- to advance to the finals of the 400 meters, which will be held Saturday evening. Bredy's preliminary time was seventh-fastest on Thursday.

MSUM senior Clayton Foster advanced to the finals of the men's 1,500 with a time of 4:00.05, which was ninth-fastest in the preliminaries.  Foster's best finish at a national meet is ninth, which he earned in the mile at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in March. The senior from Pequot Lakes, Minn., will run on Saturday evening in the finals.

None of the three Dragons at the meet are slated to compete on Friday. Senior Heather Schultz will compete in the women's shot put at 4:30 p.m. Central time on Saturday, while Bredy will compete in the men's triple jump at 6:15 p.m. Central time that day.  Foster will run at 6:45 p.m. Central time on Saturday.