DES MOINES, IOWA — Mat Clark, a former two-time NCAA
All-American at Northern Iowa, will return to defend his title in the Drake
Relays decathlon which starts Wednesday.
After finishing runner-up in the
decathlon at the 2008 Drake Relays, scoring a then personal best 7,691 points, Clark came through the
winner's circle last year with 7,663 points to edge Minnesota senior R.J. McGinnis who tallied a personal
best 7,626 points.
The top five finishers from the
2009 Drake Relays decathlon return including Ryan Koch, who was third; Ben
Dillow, fourth and Jonathan Hilton,
fifth.
There are 20 entrants in the
decathlon, which starts at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday with the 100, long jump, shot
put, high jump and 400. It resumes Thursday at 9:30 a.m. with the 110 hurdles,
discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500.
Clark owns a personal best of
7,785 points to win the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference championship after
finishing runner-up in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He was fourth at the 2007 Drake
Relays. He was second in the decathlon at the 2006 U.S. Junior Nationals to
land a spot on the U.S. World Junior team. Clark was fifth at the 2009 Texas
Relays and tenth at the 2008 NCAA Championships.
Michigan junior Frank Shotwell, former Nebraska
standout Skyler Reising and Wichita
State senior Justin Taylor could
pose challenges for Clark and McGinnis. Shotwell won the 2008 Big Ten
Conference decathlon crown with a school record 7,362 points. Reising owns a
personal best of 7,325 points set last year. He is coming off a third-place
finish at the 2010 U.S. Heptathlon National Championship. Taylor, who has a
personal best of 7,051 points, was second in the 2009 Missouri Valley
Conference championship.
McGinnis won the heptathlon and decathlon at the 2009 Big Ten
Conference meet. As a sophomore at St. Cloud State, he placed second in the
decathlon at the 2007 NCAA Division II Championship.
Koch was second in the 2006 NCAA
Division II championship with 7,098 points. Hilton, who defended his title at
the 2009 NAIA heptathlon, also is in the field. Hilton owns a personal best of
7,012 points en route to capturing the decathlon title at the 2008 NAIA
Championship. He also won two NAIA heptathlon crowns competing for Oklahoma
Baptist.
Dillow finished second in the
decathlon at the 2005 NCAA Division III meet, while competing for George Fox
and placed third in 2007 NCAA Division III championship. Dillow scored a
personal best 7,135 points at the 2009 Drake Relays.
The list of collegians include
Northern Iowa sophomore Troy Bacon;
Northern Iowa sophomore Daniel Gooris;
Eastern Illinois senior Sean Hopkins;
Oklahoma Baptist sophomore Jared
Huckabee; Iowa junior Dan Rolling; Minnesota junior Joey Schwecke; Wichita State junior Krzysztof Slupkowski; Minnesota junior Garrett Wankel and Wichita State junior Jordan Zerr.
