Big dreams helped Cravon Gillespie get off to a fast start to this outdoor track and field season.

Coming off the indoor campaign, Gillespie made no secret of his goals: to win multiple individual NCAA titles, and help Oregon win the men's team crown. In the process, he wanted to dip under 10 seconds for 100 meters at some point.

Fueled by those goals, Gillespie roared out of the starting blocks this spring. He ran the 100 meters in 10.04 seconds to open the outdoor season, and set three school records at the Pac-12 Conference championship meet – reaching one of his goals by going under 10 seconds in the 100, specifically 9.97.

At some point in every 100-meter race, though, a sprinter needs to settle in and rely on his technique. For Gillespie, this weekend is that point in his season-long sprint. He and the Ducks begin competition at the NCAA's West Preliminary in Sacramento on Thursday, with the finish line to the season in sight, but still a few strides left to power through.

Gillespie runs Thursday in the 100 prelim, Friday in the 200 prelim and potentially the 100 final, and Saturday in the 4x100-meter relay and potentially the 200 final. And he's not taking anything for granted at this point.

"One day at a time," Gillespie said Tuesday of his approach to this week's meet. "Take each race one at a time. Focus on my lane. Worry about what I'm doing, and I think I'll be in pretty good shape."

When Gillespie was laying out his goals for this spring, "advance through regionals" wasn't among them. But to win a national title, that's the next step. So this week he's embracing the process, two weeks after commanding the spotlight at the conference championships.

Gillespie set UO records in the 100 and 200 at the Pac-12 meet, and contributed to a third school record – and a third conference title – in the 4x100. Oregon's men's program may be best known for its distance runners and decathletes, but now there's a sprinter who has cemented his name among the Men of Oregon.

"There's only a few places in the United States that can say they have a sub-10-second 100-meter guy that's ever graced the campus," UO coach Robert Johnson said. "And we have one of them. …

"We have a huge tradition here, so any time we get to check one of those boxes off, it's a huge thumbs up."

Gillespie's record-setting conference meet came despite a long weather delay prior to his 100-meter prelim. He and the other runners in his heat were literally settling into the blocks when lightning caused the meet to be delayed until the storm passed.

Back to the team hotel went Gillespie and the Ducks. At first he stayed in the lobby, in case they got a quick call to return to the track. Eventually, he went up to his room, and tried to rest.

Once he got back to the track, though, Gillespie captured lightning in a bottle. With day two of the meet jump-started by the 4x100 record, Gillespie kept running and didn't slow down – even after crossing the tape following his 100-meter performance.

"I think I ran like an extra 150 meters after that," Gillespie recalled. "I couldn't slow down. It was mind-blowing, after all this hard work, finally seeing it pay off."

There's still work to be done this season, and more of Gillespie's outsized goals to chase. To get them, he'll have to get through this weekend, with one eye on the prize but otherwise keeping his head down to safely navigate the preliminary process.