Miller cracks decade-old decathlon record
Central College
DES MOINES—Central College track and field standout Ethan Miller (junior, Seymour) broke a decade-old school record in the decathlon Thursday with a score of 7,141 points at the halfway point of the 2011 Drake Relays.
After a big first day, including three lifetime bests, Miller bounced back with a pair of personal records Thursday in his first two events, recording a time of 14.98 seconds in the 110 hurdles and a mark of 111 feet, four inches in the discus throw. He followed with three more solid performances including a clearance of 14-7.25 in the pole vault, a throw of 150-2 in the javelin, and finished the 1,500 meters in 4:51.92.
Miller shattered Central’s previous decathlon mark of 7,058 points set by Peter Wagner in 2001, a performance that netted him a national championship.
“Ethan had a lot of good things happen today,” said coach Joe Dunham. “ He had a few challenges he had to overcome, including a couple opening-height misses in the pole vault, but he came through and finished with a very good score.”
Meanwhile, Kurtis Brondyke (senior, Clinton) came roaring back from a disappointing first day to record a seventh-place finish after racking up 6,898 points, less than 100 points from his previous best. He recorded lifetime bests in the 110 hurdles (15.28) and the 1,500 meters (4:47.53) in addition to marks of 122-6 in the discus, 12-7.5 in the pole vault, and 185-0 in the javelin throw.
“Kurtis had an excellent second day,” said Dunham. “It was good to see him come back from the adversity of Wednesday’s events.”
Miller and Brondyke currently hold the top two decathlon marks in Division III.
Later in the evening, Mel McDermott (Britt, West Hancock HS) continued her breakout sophomore campaign with a 17-second personal best in the 10,000 meters. McDermott’s time of 37:26.04 was good for 20th place in a strong field and narrowly missed NCAA-provisional qualifier status (37:24). McDermott is currently third on Central’s all-time list in the event, less than 16 seconds from the record of 37:10.2 set in 1982 by Cam Ratering.
“Mel is running with a lot of confidence right now,” said Dunham. “She is starting to believe she can run with the best girls in Division III.”
The Dutch will return to action at Drake Stadium Friday with several relay squads, including a pair of 4×100 and 4×400 teams in addition to a women’s distance medley relay and a men’s 4×800 relay. Matt Graber is also slated to compete in the shot put. Events begin at 8 a.m. Meanwhile, the majority of the Central squads will head to the Kip Janvrin Open at Simpson College in Indianola with events scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
