Ayden Owens Breaks NCAA Decathlon Record with World-Leading 8,528 Points
On Thursday, Ayden Owens from Arkansas broke the collegiate record with a world-leading score of 8,528 points to win the decathlon at the 2022 Mt. SAC Relays.
"I just came here to execute," said Owens. "I listen to Coach Geopfert, and I put up a good ten events and focused on the process. The result was great, 8,500 points. I feel blessed to be in this situation.
"It's a big score, but there is a lot more to come. If you look at my decathlon here, there are some good, some mediocre, and some bad ones. That's how a decathlon goes. Once we clean that up throughout the season and tune things up, it will be crazy come June and July."
The previous NCAA record of 8,484 points belonged to Georgia's Karel Tilga in April of 2021. Owens also bettered his own Puerto Rican national record, outperforming his last best score of 8,238 from last year at the Big 10 Championships while competing for Michigan.
"I'm super proud of him," said Arkansas associate head coach Travis Geopfert. "The way he's handling the decathlon, managing each event, has just been phenomenal. With swirling winds today, particularly in the pole vault, he did a fantastic job managing all of that.
"He showed his guts again to go out there for a record in the 1,500m. In the conversation beforehand, I told him what he needed to do to break 8,500. He said I don't want to hear that. Tell me what I need to run. He's a phenomenal athlete, a great person, and I'm super happy for him."
Before the final event, Owen's total score of 7,669 already ranked him No. 6 on the University of Arkansas' all-time list among the top 10. He completed the decathlon with a decisive victory in the 1,500m with a PB of 4:13.17. Owens shattered the Arkansas school record, smashing the previous score of 8,097 set in 2021 by Markus Ballengee.
University of Iowa sophomore Austin West shattered the decathlon school record and set the fourth-best point total (8,179) in the world. West broke former Hawkeye Will Daniels’ school-record mark of 7,864 points. He set personal bests in seven of the ten decathlon events over the past two days. West is now the No. 24 all-time performer in the decathlon in NCAA history.
Hakim McMorris from California was third with 7941 points.
Men's Decathlon Results
| Place | Athlete | Points | 100 | LJ | SP | HJ | 400 | 110H | DT | PV | JT | 1500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayden Owens Arkansas | 8528 | 10.27 #1 1030 [1030] +1.2 m/s | 7.51m 24' 7¾" #1 937 [1967] +1.7 m/s | 14.89m 48' 10¼" #3 783 [2750]
| 1.92m 6' 3½" #8 731 [3481]
| 46.12 #1 1002 [4483]
| 13.80 #1 1000 [5483] -0.3 m/s | 43.00m 141' 1" #4 726 [6209]
| 4.70m 15' 5" #3 819 [7028]
| 53.50m 175' 6" #9 641 [7669]
| 4:13.17 #1 859 [8528]
|
| 2 | Austin West Iowa | 8179 -349 | 10.65 #3 940 [940] +1.2 m/s | 7.45m 24' 5½" #3 922 [1862]
| 14.11m 46' 3½" #6 735 [2597]
| 1.95m 6' 4¾" #5 758 [3355]
| 46.41 #3 988 [4343]
| 14.48 #8 913 [5256] +2.1 m/s | 42.63m 139' 10" #5 718 [5974]
| 4.30m 14' 1¼" #12 702 [6676]
| 60.39m 198' 1" #3 744 [7420]
| 4:27.86 #4 759 [8179]
|
| 3 | Hakim McMorris California | 7941 -587 | 10.42 #2 994 [994] +1.2 m/s | 7.50m 24' 7¼" #2 935 [1929] +1.7 m/s | 14.19m 46' 6¾" #5 740 [2669]
| 1.98m 6' 6" #3 785 [3454]
| 46.36 #2 990 [4444]
| 14.00 #2 975 [5419] +0.8 m/s | 29.73m 97' 6" #14 459 [5878]
| 4.50m 14' 9" #7 760 [6638]
| 49.29m 161' 8" #11 578 [7216]
| 4:33.05 #5 725 [7941]
|
| 4 | Daniel Spejcher Arkansas | 7881 -647 | 10.88 #5 888 [888] +1.2 m/s | 7.09m 23' 3¼" #4 835 [1723] +0.0 m/s | 15.13m 49' 7¾" #1 798 [2521]
| 1.89m 6' 2¼" #10 705 [3226]
| 49.52 #7 837 [4063]
| 14.38 #7 926 [4989] +0.8 m/s | 43.48m 142' 8" #2 736 [5725]
| 4.90m 16' 0¾" #1 880 [6605]
| 55.23m 181' 2" #5 666 [7271]
| 4:51.36 #10 610 [7881]
|
| 5 | JJ Ply Abilene Christian | 7857 -671 | 11.17 #12 823 [823] +1.9 m/s | 7.01m 23' 0" #8 816 [1639] +1.7 m/s | 12.17m 39' 11¼" #14 617 [2256]
| 2.13m 6' 11¾" #1 925 [3181]
| 50.11 #9 810 [3991]
| 14.29 #5 937 [4928] -0.3 m/s | 39.85m 130' 9" #8 662 [5590]
| 4.60m 15' 1" #5 790 [6380]
| 57.24m 187' 9" #4 696 [7076]
| 4:24.45 #2 781 [7857]
|
| 6 | Dylan Cooper Athletic Lab TC | 7803 -725 | 11.27 #14 801 [801] +1.9 m/s | 6.96m 22' 10" #9 804 [1605] +2.3 m/s | 14.80m 48' 6¾" #4 777 [2382]
| 1.95m 6' 4¾" #5 758 [3140]
| 51.22 #13 759 [3899]
| 14.49 #9 912 [4811] +2.1 m/s | 43.16m 141' 7" #3 729 [5540]
| 4.50m 14' 9" #7 760 [6300]
| 63.10m 207' 0" #1 785 [7085]
| 4:34.09 #6 718 [7803]
|
| 7 | Lucas Van Klaveren UT-Arlington | 7760 -768 | 10.94 #7 874 [874] +1.9 m/s | 7.02m 23' 0½" #6 818 [1692] +1.7 m/s | 13.78m 45' 2½" #7 715 [2407]
| 1.89m 6' 2¼" #10 705 [3112]
| 47.10 #4 953 [4065]
| 14.33 #6 932 [4997] +0.8 m/s | 38.49m 126' 3" #9 634 [5631]
| 4.60m 15' 1" #5 790 [6421]
| 54.08m 177' 5" #8 649 [7070]
| 4:38.39 #7 690 [7760]
|
| 8 | Oliver Thorner Washington | 7602 -926 | 10.99 #8 863 [863] +1.9 m/s | 6.69m 21' 11½" #11 741 [1604] +0.5 m/s | 12.95m 42' 6" #9 664 [2268]
| 1.92m 6' 3½" #8 731 [2999]
| 49.08 #6 858 [3857]
| 15.24 #12 821 [4678] -1.1 m/s | 40.07m 131' 5" #7 666 [5344]
| 4.70m 15' 5" #3 819 [6163]
| 54.85m 179' 11" #6 661 [6824]
| 4:24.92 #3 778 [7602]
|
| 9 | Denim Rogers Texas Tech | 7414 -1114 | 10.76 #4 915 [915] +1.2 m/s | 6.58m 21' 7¼" #12 716 [1631] +2.3 m/s | 12.75m 41' 10" #12 652 [2283]
| 1.98m 6' 6" #3 785 [3068]
| 48.46 #5 887 [3955]
| 14.23 #4 945 [4900] -0.3 m/s | 38.17m 125' 2" #10 627 [5527]
| 4.50m 14' 9" #7 760 [6287]
| 49.19m 161' 4" #12 577 [6864]
| 5:01.72 #12 550 [7414]
|
| 10 | Noah Swaby Arkansas | 7317 -1211 | 11.23 #13 810 [810] +1.9 m/s | 6.22m 20' 5" #14 635 [1445] +2.5 m/s | 14.96m 49' 1" #2 787 [2232]
| 1.77m 5' 9¾" #13 602 [2834]
| 51.17 #12 761 [3595]
| 15.66 #14 772 [4367] +2.1 m/s | 46.80m 153' 6" #1 804 [5171]
| 4.30m 14' 1¼" #12 702 [5873]
| 61.51m 201' 9" #2 761 [6634]
| 4:39.53 #8 683 [7317]
|
| 11 | Jami Schlueter Washington | 7139 -1389 | 11.11 #11 836 [836] +1.9 m/s | 6.83m 22' 5" #10 774 [1610] +1.0 m/s | 12.90m 42' 4" #11 661 [2271]
| 1.86m 6' 1¼" #12 679 [2950]
| 51.91 #14 729 [3679]
| 14.85 #10 868 [4547] +0.8 m/s | 36.36m 119' 3" #12 591 [5138]
| 4.40m 14' 5¼" #11 731 [5869]
| 49.96m 163' 11" #10 588 [6457]
| 4:39.72 #9 682 [7139]
|
| 12 | Taylor Cudequest Unattached | 6808 -1720 | 10.93 #6 876 [876] +1.2 m/s | 6.54m 21' 5½" #13 707 [1583] +1.4 m/s | 12.95m 42' 6" #9 664 [2247]
| 1.71m 5' 7¼" #14 552 [2799]
| 49.83 #8 822 [3621]
| 15.49 #13 791 [4412] -1.1 m/s | 36.00m 118' 1" #13 584 [4996]
| 4.20m 13' 9¼" #14 673 [5669]
| 48.01m 157' 6" #13 559 [6228]
| 4:56.53 #11 580 [6808]
|
Jack Flood Unattached | 11.07 #10 845 [845] +1.2 m/s | 7.04m 23' 1¼" #5 823 [1668] +1.1 m/s | 13.76m 45' 1¾" #8 714 [2382]
| 2.07m 6' 9½" #2 868 [3250]
| 50.60 #10 787 [4037]
| 14.12 #3 959 [4996] -0.3 m/s | 41.38m 135' 9" #6 693 [5689]
| 4.50m 14' 9" #7 760 [6449]
| 54.85m 179' 11" #6 661 [7110]
| |||
Gabriel Maille Unattached | ||||||||||||
Joseph Keys Marquette | ||||||||||||
Gary Haasbroek Texas Tech | 11.03 #9 854 [854] +1.2 m/s | 7.02m 23' 0½" #6 818 [1672] +2.3 m/s | 12.62m 41' 5" #13 644 [2316]
| 1.95m 6' 4¾" #5 758 [3074]
| 50.62 #11 786 [3860]
| 15.02 #11 847 [4707] -1.1 m/s | 36.93m 121' 2" #11 602 [5309]
| 4.90m 16' 0¾" #1 880 [6189]
| 23.18m 76' 0" #14 204 [6393]
|
Article Source: Arkansas Track and Field
