Caleb Brown Earns All-American Honors in the Decathlon

GULF SHORES, Alabama - The grueling two day, 10-event decathlon at the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships ended on Thursday. In his second appearance at the national meet, senior Caleb Brown (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) rose from 15^th place on day one to All-American honors and eighth place on day two.

Brown, who is just the second All-American decathlete in program history along with current Yotes head coach Austin Basterrechea, started his second day with 2,447 points after the first events on day one. He started the day with a 16.77 performance in the 110m hurdles for 648 points, then he was third in the field with a toss of the discus of 38.48m for 6534 points. 

Brown followed that up with a clearance of 12-5 ½ (3.80m) in the pole vault for 562 points. With two events to go, he recorded a personal best in the javelin with a throw of 162-5 (49.83m) which was sixth in the field to put him ninth overall.

In the final event, in the 1500m run, Brown recorded a time of 4:47.23 for 635 points to move ahead of the eighth-place competitor to secure All-American honors with 6,212 points. An ecstatic coach Austin Basterrechea explained that it was an awesome few days for Brown. "He crushed it!" 

Also, for the men's track and field team, sophomore Braden Heath just missed out on qualifying for the finals in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:34.19 with his 15th-place finish - the top 14 advance to Friday's finals. Plus, the 4x800m relay team of Ian Jackson, Daniel Butler, Trajan Holtzen and Aaron Van Lersberghe were 20^th in a time of 7:45.96. The time of 7:45.96 is the third fastest in program history. Lane Maher took 17^th in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.71.