A PERFECT MEET? Of course, there’s no such thing.
Then how does one rate Leo Neugebauer’s 8836 decathlon score?
His massive 358-point PR catapulted him above some of the event’s biggest names. It broke Kyle Garland’s Collegiate Record of 8720 by 116 points and the NCAA meet record of 8457 (co-held by Ashton Eaton and Ayden Owens-Delerme) by 379.
He is now No. 8 all-time globally — the 7 names ahead of him have all won at least one Olympic or World Championships gold medal.
And it all happened within the confines of his collegiate home track.
As monstrous as his performance was, Neugebauer hadn’t been the favorite. That role belonged to Garland, owner of the two highest scores in collegiate history (8720 and 8589w). Garland now has three of the top four scores, with his second best-ever 8630 earning runner-up honors, 173 points over the previous meet record.
They waged a great duel. Here’s how it all went down, event by event:
100: Neugebauer started hot, knocking more than a 10th off his PR at 10.61. Garland followed in the next race at 10.63, matching his time in his CR.
Long Jump: Nebraska’s Till Steinforth (who would finish 4th) led the way with a PR 25-10 (7.87). Garland (25-4/7.72) and Neugebauer (an all-conditions outdoor best of 25-2½/7.68w) followed. Garland took the lead by 6 points, but Neugebauer was now 85 points up on his 8478 PR.
Shot: Garland and Neugebauer were both near PR territory, going over 16m at 53-9¼ (16.39) and 53-4½ (16.27), . Garland now led by 13.
High Jump: This was a critical event. Neugebauer and Garland both cleared 6-8¼ (2.04) to lead the field. It was a solid effort for the German — whose PR is 6-9½/2.07 — but Garland’s best is much higher: 7-2¼ (2.19) indoors earlier this year (and 7-1/2.16 in his CR last year). The lead remained the same, but the projections moved Neugebauer within 30 points of Garland (8569 to 8539).
400: Iowa’s Austin West (who would finish 3rd overall) was fastest at 46.56. Neugebauer chopped more than a second off his PR with a 47.08, and Garland also PRed at 47.78. Neugebauer took the lead with a Day 1 score of 4591, 21 points ahead of Garland. Projections put them both over 8600 (Neugebauer 8630, Garland 8624).
110H: Garland rocketed to a PR 13.54 — fastest ever by a collegian in a decathlon; Neugebauer responded with a wind-aided 14.10. Both were more than a 10th faster than their previous bests. Garland took a 52-point lead, but the projections were nearly even: Neugebauer 8654–8653.
Discus: This was a turning point in the competition. Neugebauer PRed by more than 4ft at 180-8 (55.06), close to the all-time decathlon collegiate best of 181-2 (55.22) to take a 142-point lead over Garland, who was solid at 150-1/45.74. Neugebauer had a monster third throw that was a sector foul. Neugebauer now projected at 8704 with Garland at 8644.
Pole Vault: Virtual clincher for Neugebauer, who PRed twice, finally at 17-1 (5.21). Garland lost more ground despite an outdoor PR 16-5¼ (5.01); it was below the 16-11/5.16 from his near-WR 6639 indoor heptathlon in March. Neugebauer’s lead was now 205 points and he improved in the projection category as well (8739–8692).
The significance caught up with Neugebauer, who was moved to tears. “I never cry, and I cried when I cleared the 5.21 bar,” he said. “I ran away because I couldn’t control my body. There definitely was a tear involved, but this just shows how much that means.”
Javelin: What’s wrong with more PRs? Neugebauer had 3 of them, ultimately adding more than 10ft to his best to reach 188-6 (57.45) and take a commanding 235-point lead over Garland (not far back at 181-11/55.46).
1500: Neugebauer’s victory seemed almost certain, but two of the highest scores in collegiate history needed to be wrapped up. Garland was faster in this event at 4:43.27, while Neugebauer’s 4:48.00 — with the fatigue from his 2 days of effort showing in the last lap — put the proverbial bow on a memorable competition.
Neugebauer’s Day 2 total of 4245 was an all-time collegiate best, bettering the 4174 by Lindon Victor of Texas A&M in ’17.
MEN’S DECATHLON RESULTS
(June 07–08)
1. *Leo Neugebauer’ (Tx-Ger) 8836 NR, CR (old CR 8720 Kyle Garland [Georgia] ’22) (WL) (8, x W) (MR)
(10.61, 25-2½/7.68w, 53-4½/16.27, 6-8¼/2.04, 47.08 [4591],14.10w, 180-8/55.06, 17-1/5.21, 188-6/57.45, 4:48.00 [4245]);
2. Kyle Garland (Ga) 8630 (x, 3 C; 2, 2 NCAA)
(10.63, 25-4/7.72, 53-9¼/16.39, 6-8¼/2.04, 47.78 [4570],13.54, 150-1/45.74, 16-5¼/5.01, 181-11/55.46, 4:43.27 [4060]);
3. *Austin West (Ia) 8054
(10.82, 23-11¾/7.31, 46-6/14.17, 6-4¾/1.95, 46.56 [4266],14.45w, 146-2/44.55, 13-1¾/4.01, 212-9/64.85, 4:39.75 [3788]);
4. **Till Steinforth’ (Nb-Ger) 7991
(10.72, 25-10/7.87, 45-9/13.94, 6-3½/1.92, 48.52 [4291],14.20w, 131-7/40.10, 16-1¼/4.91, 153-1/46.66, 4:42.99 [3700]);
5. *Heath Baldwin (MiSt) 7919
(11.33, 22-5¾/6.85, 51-11¼/15.83, 6-4¾/1.95, 49.90 [3985],14.25w, 136-10/41.70, 15-1½/4.61, 221-2/67.43, 4:44.81 [3934]);
6. *Yariel Soto Torrado’ (Ar-PR) 7917 PR
(10.77, 25-1¾/7.66, 45-10¾/13.99, 6-4¾/1.95, 48.34 [4266],15.28, 140-0/42.69, 16-1¼/4.91, 150-4/45.82, 4:36.01 [3651]);
7. *Jack Turner’ (UTSA-GB) 7851
(10.76, 23-8¼/7.22, 41-7¾/12.69, 6-3½/1.92, 47.78 [4080],14.96w, 147-4/44.90, 15-9¼/4.81, 161-8/49.29, 4:33.47 [3771]);
8. **Ben Barton (BYU) 7815 PR
(10.74, 23-¾/7.03, 43-3¼/13.19, 6-7/2.01, 46.88 [4196],14.22, 122-1/37.23, 14-5½/4.41, 173-0/52.75, 4:36.59 [3619]);
9. **Grant Levesque (Rice) 7739; 10. Daniel Spejcher (Ar) 7688; 11. ***Peyton Bair (MsSt) 7653; 12. Joseph Keys (TxT) 7646; 13. *Oliver Thorner’ (Wa-GB) 7641; 14. ***Rafael Raap’ (Or-Neth) 7607; 15. *Ryan Talbot (MiSt) 7488; 16. *Aiden Ouimet (Il) 7468; 17. Kristo Simulask’ (Ok-Est) 7410; 18. *Joel McFarlane’ (UTSA-GB) 7311; 19. **Alexander Jung’ (Ks-Ger) 6817; 20. ***Tayton Klein (Ks) 6753; 21. **Marcus Weaver (Ar) 4222;… dnf—**Paul Kallenberg’ (Louis-Ger), Hakim McMorris (Cal), *John Murray (Aub).
(best-ever mark-for-NCAA-place: 1–2)