ENTERING AS THE seasonal leader by a massive 684 points, Leo Neugebauer of Texas could have hit autopilot and easily repeated as champion.
It was the opposite.
“I’m here to score points,” the German senior said.
Indeed, the 23-year-old — who raised the Collegiate Record by 116 points in this meet last year to 8836 — added 125 more digits, and his 8961-point rocket is now in orbit with the event’s über-elite. By event:
100: Mississippi State’s Peyton Bair was fastest with a meet record 10.30 — taking down Ashton Eaton’s 10.37 — and was followed by Edgar Campre of Miami, who PRed at 10.56. Neugebauer was next at 10.64, his second-fastest ever and near his PR 10.61 from last year’s CR.
Long Jump: Neugebauer got on record pace here, landing at 25-9½ (7.86), his best in a decathlon collegiately. It could have been farther except for a hand drag, but he was up 38 points on his 8836 score. He was tops by a foot and a half and led by 102 points.
Shot: Bombs away! Neugebauer smashed his own deca CR with a first-round 57-3½ (17.46). That would be his best, although his second-round foul appeared to land near 59-0 (18.00). The field’s best by more than 6ft, he was at 2909 points, 112 up on his CR as his projection was at 8948 (only 6 decathletes have ever surpassed 8900).
High Jump: Neugebauer won his third-straight event as he cleared eight heights — avoiding a potential bummer with a third-attempt clearance at 6-4¾ (1.95) — to match his outdoor PR of 6-9½ (2.07). He was now 140 points up on his CR, projecting to 8976.
400: Looking strong until the last 40m, Neugebauer clocked 48.03, almost a second off his PR 47.08 in his CR. His Day 1 total of 4685 bettered the CR of 4660 by Kyle Garland, and he was still on record pace, now projecting to 8930.
The battle for 2nd was narrowing to Bair (4428), Iowa’s Austin West (4272) and Campre (4249). Unfortunately it was the last event for West, who injured an ankle during the high jump and wouldn’t start Day 2.
110 Hurdles: Neugebauer was nearly flawless — clipping only the 9th hurdle — to clock 14.36, just off his 14.33 PR. However, he actually lost points on his record score, which included a wind-aided 14.10, as his projection dipped down to 8897.
Discus: It was record time again, and Neugebauer’s platter went farther than anyone had ever thrown in a decathlon. At 189-4 (57.70), his first effort obliterated the deca WR of 183-3 (55.87) set in ’05 by American Bryan Clay. That put him back over 8900, projection-wise, at 8953.
Pole Vault: Many remember another CR-holding Longhorn (Trey Hardee in ’06) who was a huge NCAA favorite only to meet disaster with a no-height in this event, but thankfully that kind of history did not repeat. Instead, Neugebauer calmly cleared six bars with seven attempts, exuberantly shouting, “Let’s go!” after soaring over 16-9¼ (5.11) and again after tying his PR at 17-1 (5.21). He remained 117 points up on his record, projecting to 8953.
Javelin: Neugebauer couldn’t match his 193-6 (58.99) PR from the Texas Relays in March, but his first throw of 185-10 (56.64) was his fourth-longest ever and was far enough. He gave back 13 points to the projection, now at 8940.
1500: Neugebauer knew the numbers — even if it meant a huge PR of 4:38.38 was what was needed to reach 9000 when his fastest was 4:42.68. “I was ready,” he said. He was near the pace needed for about 2 laps before settling for 4:44.61 to conclude his monster score.
Overall, Neugebauer felt the total was “unbelievable.” But he also critiqued himself, noting, “Just one PR — in the shot put — and I tied one in the pole vault, so I know I have a little more left in the tank.”
Bair (8131) overtook Campre (8042) for 2nd in the last two events as both went over 8000 for the first time.
MEN’S DECATHLON RESULTS
(June 05–06)
1. Leo Neugebauer (Tx-Ger) 8961 CR, NR (old CR 8836 Neugebauer ’23) (WL) (6, 8 W)
(10.64, 25-9½/7.86, 57-3½/17.46 Deca CR, 6-9½/2.07, 48.03 [4685 Deca CR],14.36, 189-4/57.70 Deca WR, 17-1/5.21, 185-10/56.64, 4:44.61 [4276]);
2. **Peyton Bair (MsSt) 8131 PR
(10.30, 23-4½/7.12, 50-4/15.34, 6-7/2.01, 47.38 [4428],14.08, 119-8/36.47, 15-5½/4.71, 177-11/54.22, 4:41.15 [3703]);
3. **Edgar Campre (Mia) 8042 PR
(10.56, 23-9/7.24, 50-4/15.34, 6-2¼/1.89, 48.16 [4249],13.95, 146-5/44.62, 15-5½/4.71, 160-0/48.78, 4:43.20 [3793]);
4. Jack Turner (Ar) 7963
(10.78, 24-2¼/7.37, 42-9½/13.04, 6-2¼/1.89, 47.62 [4116],14.27, 135-3/41.23, 15-5½/4.71, 172-11/52.71, 4:26.79 [3847]);
5. Lucas Van Klaveren (UTA) 7927
(10.94, 22-8/6.91, 46-0/14.02, 6-0/1.83, 47.86 [3965],14.32, 143-10/43.84, 15-9¼/4.81, 199-0/60.67, 4:39.24 [3962]);
6. **Rafael Raap (Or) 7842 PR
(10.99, 23-½/7.02, 45-3¾/13.81, 6-1¼/1.86, 50.41 [3873],15.16, 157-8/48.06, 16-1¼/4.91, 197-5/60.17, 4:39.06 [3969]);
7. Lee Walburn (WaSt) 7816 PR
(10.85, 21-4/6.50, 49-2½/15.00, 6-2¼/1.89, 48.40 [3976],14.89, 149-5/45.54, 15-5½/4.71, 185-9/56.62, 4:38.42 [3840]);
8. Yariel Soto Torrado (Ar) 7804
(10.80, 23-8/7.21, 44-1½/13.45, 6-3½/1.92, 48.32 [4090],15.11, 134-4/40.94, 16-5¼/5.01, 143-5/43.71, 4:23.87 [3714]);
9. Ryan Talbot (MiSt) 7759 (10.79, 20-11¼/6.38, 44-7/13.59, 6-0/1.83, 48.00 [3843],14.87, 167-0/50.90, 15-1½/4.61, 176-11/53.92, 4:33.51 [3916]); 10. **Jami Schlueter (Wa) 7739 PR; 11. Aiden Ouimet (Il) 7673; 12. Josh Farmer (UCI) 7647; 13. *Diarmuid O’Connor (Ct) 7546; 14. **Tayton Klein (Ks) 7530; 15. **Dominique Hall (Cinc) 7464; 16. **Micheal May (Aub) 7375; 17. Scott Boon (HouC) 7280; 18. Isaiah Hudgens (IncW) 7265; 19. Kyle Sieracki (IncW) 7230; 20. Joel McFarlane (TCU) 7216; 21. Sean Murphy (VaT) 7198; 22. **Casey Tow (GCan) 7182; 23. *Alexander Jung (Ks) 6891;… dnf—Austin West (Ia).