Drake Relays Press Release #29
DES MOINES, IOWA — Travis Geopfert will return to defend his title in the decathlon Wednesday at the 96th annual Drake Relays.
But Geopfert might have to take a back seat to 2000 Olympian Kip Janvrin who will be making his last appearance at the Drake Relays as an athlete.
Janvrin, 39, owns the Drake Relays career record with 14 individual victories — all in the decathlon. Geopfert ended Janvrin's string of nine consecutive victories at the Drake Relays last year when he scored 7,428 points to win the decathlon.
“I just don't see myself competing next year,” said Janvrin, who is the oldest active U.S. competitor in the decathlon. “But it's not like I'm going to disappear from the Drake Relays. I will still come back here as a college coach as well as a spectator.”
There are 18 entrants in the decathlon, which starts at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday with the 100, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400. It starts Thursday at 11 a.m. with the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500.
Geopfert, 26, who is an assistant track and field coach at Northern Iowa, was 11th at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trails with 7,526 points. Janvrin was 12th with 7,510. Geopfert recorded a personal best in the decathlon last year with 7,785 points in a meet in Fargo, N.D.
Geopfert was second behind Janvrin in the 2003 Drake Relays. He was third in a U.S. vs. Germany dual meet, while placing 12th in the 2003 U.S. Outdoor Championships. He won the Missouri Valley Conference decathlon title in 1998 while competing for Northern Iowa.
Another challenger could be Brandon Buteaux, a junior from Texas-San Antonio who owns a personal best of 7,218 points. He had tallied 5,861 points, in only eight events, earlier this year at the Texas Relays before withdrawing from the meet.
Janvrin's longevity is unprecedented in U.S. decathlon history. Since beginning his decathlon career in 1983, Janvrin has been nationally ranked 14 of the last 16 seasons. He has been nationally ranked since 1989 and has completed 84 out of 87 decathlons.
Janvrin won his first ever-national title at the 2001 U.S. Outdoor Championships by overcoming an 87-point deficit and third place position entering the 1,500. Using his middle-distance prowess, Janvrin won the 1,500 — the decathlon's final event— in 4:14.96 to score 846 points and secure the win, becoming the oldest-ever U.S. decathlon champion at age 35.
Janvrin owns the world record for most decathlon wins (37) and an American record for most career decathlons over 8,000 points (26). He finished 17th in the 2001 World Championships.
Janvrin was ranked No. 6 in the U.S. in 2003, while finishing fifth in the U.S. Outdoor Championships with a season best 7,918 points. He was ranked No. 3 in the U.S. in 2000 and 2001. He was third in the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials, becoming the oldest U.S. decathlete ever to compete in the Olympics. Janvrin placed 21st in the Sydney Olympics.
In a display of track and field versatility and stamina, Janvrin won the 2002 Double Decathlon World Championships in Turku, Finland, with a two-day world-best score of 14,185 points. Competitors at the event completed in 20 track and field events over two days, contesting every event in the sport except the race walk and marathon.
Janvrin, who said he changed uniforms 11 times and shoes 17 times during the two-day competition, scored 6,912 points the first day and 7,273 points the second day. His record is not officially recognized by the IAAF, but it beats the previous world best of 13,906 (using current scoring tables) set in 1992 by Indrek Kaseorg of Estonia in Punkalaidun, Finland.
The Panora, Iowa, native was inducted into the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame in 1996. He has won Drake Relays decathlon titles in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Janvrin owns a personal best of 8,462 set in a 1996 U.S.-Germany dual meet. He won the gold medal in the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar de Planta, Argentina, setting a meet record with 8,049 points, and he earned a bronze medal in the decathlon in the 1994 Goodwill Games.
Indiana senior Jake Wiseman finished third in the decathlon at the 2004 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships with a career best 7,365 points.
Nebraska sophomore Lee Martin has a personal best of 6,712 points. Nebraska senior Kyle Goerl was eighth at the 2004 Big 12 outdoor championships with 6,514 points. He set a personal best record with 6,653 points to finish sixth at the 2004 College Station Relays.
Other entries include Western Michigan junior Mike Henley, an all-Mid American Conference performer; Iowa State sophomore Neil Hines, who was sixth in the decathlon at the 2004 Big 12 Outdoor meet with 6,579 points; Marquette junior Matt Piekarski,who was fourth in the decathlon at the 2004 Conference USA Championships, scoring a personal best 6,405 points; and Western Illinois junior Garrett Ryan, an All-Mid Continent Conference performer;
Peter Wagner, who was an NCAA Division III champion in the decathlon at Central College in 2001 and 2003, also will compete.
