The NWAACC Men’s Decathlon and Women’s Heptathlon Championships were held Monday, April 28, and Tuesday, April 29. Clark College had four total athletes, two men and two women, competing in the events.
    The Women’s Heptathlon consists of seven events: the 100-meter hurdles, the 200-meter dash, the 800-meter, high jump, long jump, javelin throw and shot put. In each event, the athletes receive a score for their performance – the higher the score, the better the performance. The event scores for each competitor are totaled to determine the winner.
    Freshman Brooklyn Holton finished in fourth place, but boasted the best score in the high jump, where she posted an impressive 5’1.25”. Holton finished the competition with a total of 3635 points, 597 points behind winner Danica Bates of Lane Community College.
    Another Clark freshman, Brittanie Baker, didn’t do well in some of the events, and as a result, placed 13 out of 14.
    Head Coach Dave Caldwell remains optimistic about the future of both girls: “Brooklyn actually came in (for the heptathlon) in October, but this year we began our training pretty late. Next year we start in the fall, so she’ll be much more advanced and prepared, as will Brittanie.”
    With nearly a whole year of training before the next NWAACC Heptathlon Championships, these two athletes will have more than enough time to hone their skills and improve on their techniques so that they can attempt to best this year’s finishes.
    The two women were more focused on the multi-event competition than the two men that competed in the decathlon according to Caldwell.
    “The guys pretty much stuck to their primary events and didn’t train as a typical decathlete.” Caldwell added, “They are both really good pole vaulters who wanted to see what the decathlon felt like, so we put them in. Brooklyn and Brittanie were a little more serious about the multi-event and trained earlier (January/February) because of that.”
    Because the men focused on their usual events throughout the season, their other events in the decathlon may have suffered. James Carr, a sophomore at Clark, and Jeff Crumbaker, a freshman, were the two men who competed in the events.
    The Men’s Decathlon tests the athletes in ten disciplines: the 100-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, 400-meter dash, 1500-meter run, long jump, high jump, javelin throw, discus throw, shot put, and pole vault. With such a wide variety of events, the athletes must be in excellent physical shape.
    Crumbaker and Carr placed first and second in their specialty event of the pole vault, respectively. The two were the only competitors who vaulted at a height of more than 4 meters. However, their pole vaulting scores were not enough to give them an edge over the field, as Carr placed tenth and Crumbaker placed eleventh out of eleven.
    Unfortunately for Carr, this year was his last chance to compete for Clark College. Although he did place better than teammate Crumbaker, his tenth place finish must be a bit of a disappointment for the sophomore. If Crumbaker decides to continue with the decathlon next season, he will have almost an entire year to train in all ten fields, and he could try to improve on his finish in this year’s championships.