Gray Horn Turns In Fifth-Best Decathlon Score in School History
Friday, April 3, 2009 | Track and Field
Florida freshman Gray Horn (Wapakoneta, Ohio), competing in his first collegiate decathlon, turned in the fifth-best score in school history Thursday with a final tally of 7,067 points to finish seventh at the 82nd-Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Horn battled stiff winds that halted the competition in the late afternoon, backing up the event that concluded close to Midnight, Eastern time Friday morning. Competitors in the decathlon, which began at 12 p.m. EST, were at the track for nearly a 12-hour period, participating in the final five events of the decathlon, which was stalled shortly before the scheduled start of the pole vault competition. Meet management cited safety concerns as the primary reason for halting the event.
Horn became one of just seven athletes in program history to score better than 7,000 points in the decathlon in a single meet.
“Gray started the day with a strong hurdle race and ended the day with a great 1,500,” Florida multi-events coach Mellanee Welty said. “He had some bumps in the road along the way but, all in all, to score 7,000 points in his first collegiate decathlon is a great sign of things to come.”
Horn started the day strong with a fourth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.87 (-1.8), giving him 865 points on the event. He struggled over the next three events, finishing 20th in the discus (94-8/28.85), seventh in the pole vault (14-3.25/4.35m) and 13th in the javelin (147-6/44.95m), before turning in a lifetime personal best of 4:37.70 in the 1,500-meter run, breaking his previous personal-record time by nearly eight seconds in the final event of the night.
Florida returns to action on Friday when it plays host to the opening day of the 65th-annual Pepsi Florida Relays beginning at 10 a.m. at James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track.
The University of Florida is home of the 2009 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. For all of the latest information on Gator Track and Field, log on to www.GatorZone.com.
82nd-Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays – April 1-2, 2009 (Austin, Texas)
Men's Decathlon Standings (Final)
1. Camille Vandendriessche – Abeline Christian (7,531)
2. Daniel Kinsey – Akron (7,385)
3. Cory Roberts – Southeastern Louisiana (7,364)
4. Trinity Otto – Texas A&M (7,355)
5. Mat Clark – Northern Iowa (7,202)
6. Andrew Webb – Texas (7,187)
7. Gray Horn – Florida (7,067)
8. Philip Adam – Rice (7,027)
9. Kenny Greaves – Texas (7,009)
10. Morgan Floyd – Houston (7,007)
11. Adolphus Jones – UT-Arlington (6,980)
12. Nick Trubachik – Portland State (6,872)
13. Chris Dickman – Wichita State (6,750)
14. Shawn Schmidt – Texas (6,547)
15. Issac Murphy – unattached (6,485)
16. DeShawn Shead – Portland State (5,902)
17. Justin Taylor – Wichita State (5,454)
Decathlon 110m Hurdles (RQS: 14.30)
4. Gray Horn – 14.87 (-1.8) – 865 points
Decathlon Discus (RQS: 51.70m)
20. Gray Horn – 94-8/28.85m – 442 points
Decathlon Pole Vault (RQS: 5.05m)
T7. Gray Horn – 14-3.25/4.35m – 716 points
Decathlon Javelin (RQS: 61.60m)
13. Gray Horn – 147-6/44.95m – 514 points
Decathlon 1,500m (RQS: 3:47.80)
6. Gray Horn – 4:37.70 – 695 points
END OF REPORT
