LOS ANGELES -- Harrison Williams, already one of the top decathletes in Stanford history as a freshman, competes for his first conference championship Saturday and Sunday at UCLA's Drake Stadium.
Williams set a Stanford freshman record and threatened the school's oldest record when he scored 7,518 points to become the top collegian at the Texas Relays on March 25-26. The total was only 74 points behind Bob Mathias’ 1952 Olympic gold-medal total..
Mathias, class of ’53, scored a world-record 7,887 points to win his second consecutive Olympic decathlon gold. But using today’s scoring system, his 1952 total now is worth 7,592.
Nearly half the field from last year returns with six of the 13 men’s competitors taking to the track this weekend, including three-time defending champion Dakotah Keys of Oregon. Keys ranks second in the country and is looking to become the first four-time champion in the event.
The men’s field is young, with six of the competitors have just freshman eligibility, but still looks to be the toughest decathlon competition in the country. Four of the top-10 ranked decathletes in the country will be in the field, including Arizona junior Pau Tonneson, who is ranked third in the event in the country, UCLA senior Marcus Nilsson is sixth, and Oregon sophomore Mitch Modin ranks eighth. Williams ranked 12th.
The Pac-12 meet proper will take place May 16-17 at the same track.