USTFCCCA News & Notes
By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA May 4, 2018   

A Multi-tude Of All-Time Collegiate Marks

Earlier this week on Twitter, the official account of the Minnesota State track & field team brought up an interesting concept.

“How cool would it be to have a True Team Multi-Event Championships! 10 events, 10 different athletes that specialize in those events. What’s your schools SCHOOL RECORD TRUE TEAM Dec/Hept Score (all your school records in multi calculator)? Minnesota State is rollin 10,164 and 6,432”

That idea took off as more than 100 programs from across the nation, ranging from NCAA Division I powerhouse Florida to Edmond North High School in Edmond, Oklahoma, responded with their school records in each event of the multis.

CLICK HERE FOR THE MASTER LIST

“I figured it would gain some interest, but never thought it would gain the interest it did over Twitter,” Minnesota State coach Chris Parno said in an email. “I think there are plenty of track nerds out there that like the multi-event.”

And while the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) isn’t a program per se, we are the stewards of the collegiate record books. Let’s take a look at how all of the collegiate outdoor records would score in the decathlon and heptathlon.

Calculating The All-Time Best Collegiate DecaSquad
Event Athlete Mark Points
100 Meters Christian Coleman 9.82 1141
Long Jump Erick Walder 8.74m 1255
Shot Put John Godina 22.00m 1225
High Jump Hollis Conway 2.38m 1172
400 Meters Fred Kerley 43.70 1128
110 Hurdles Renaldo Nehemiah 13.00 1108
Discus Throw Hannes Hopley 67.66m 1245
Pole Vault Lawrence Johnson 5.98m 1224
Javelin Throw Patrik Boden 89.10m 1184
1500 Meters Josh Kerr 3:35.01 1145
Total Score 11827

If you add up all of the men’s collegiate outdoor records, it would total 11,827 points.

For the sake of comparison, two-time Olympic gold medalist and 2010 The Bowerman winner Ashton Eaton holds the world record in the decathlon with 9045 points and Lindon Victor is the collegiate record holder with his year-old score of 8539 points.

All of the men’s collegiate outdoor records top the 1100-point barrier per event, including four that are worth more than 1200 points alone: the long jump, the discus, the shot put and the pole vault. Erick Walder’s long jump of 8.74m (28-8¼) from 1994 adds a staggering 1255 points, while Hannes Hopley’s discus heave of 67.66m (221-11) from 2004 is close behind with 1245 points.

Calculating The All-Time Best Collegiate HeptSquad
Event Athlete Mark Points
100 Hurdles Brianna Rollins 12.39 1218
High Jump Brigetta Barrett 1.99m 1224
Shot Put Maggie Ewen 19.46m 1162
200 Meters Kyra Jefferson 22.02 1179
Long Jump Jackie Joyner-Kersee 6.99m 1169
Javelin Throw Maggie Malone 62.19m 1097
800 Meters Raevyn Rogers 1:59.10 1130
Total Score 8179

If you add up all of the women’s collegiate outdoor records, it would total 8179 points.

For the sake of comparison, once again, three-time Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee owns the world record at 7291 points, while Diane Guthrie still holds the collegiate record of 6527 points she set 23 years ago.

Two of the seven women’s collegiate outdoor records add more than 1200 points to the total: 2016 Olympic gold medalist and 2013 The Bowerman winner Brianna Rollins’ time of 12.39 in the 100 hurdles and 2013 The Bowerman finalist Brigetta Barrett’s clearance of 1.99m (6-6 ¼) in the high jump.

But what about this year? We’re glad you asked.

Calculating The Season’s Best DecaSquad
Event Athlete Mark Points
100 Meters Jaylan Mitchell 10.00 1096
Long Jump Terrell McClain 8.18m 1107
Shot Put Jordan Geist 20.41m 1125
High Jump Tejaswin Shankar 2.29m 1081
400 Meters Michael Norman 44.53 1084
110 Hurdles Grant Holloway 13.16 1086
Discus Throw Ashmon Lucas 62.91m 1143
Pole Vault Devin King
Chris Nilsen		 5.80m 1165
Javelin Throw Anderson Peters 81.95m 1073
1500 Meters Josh Kerr 3:35.01 1145
Total Score 11105

If you add up all of the men’s bests from the current collegiate season, it would total 11,105 points.

Five of the marks add more than 1100 points to the total, headlined by 1165 from the national leaders in the pole vault: South Dakota’s Chris Nilsen and Southeastern Louisiana’s Devin King. New Mexico’s Josh Kerr isn’t too far behind with 1145 points from his recent collegiate record in the 1500.

Calculating The Season’s Best HeptSquad
Event Athlete Mark Points
100 Hurdles Jasmine Camacho-Quinn 12.53 1196
High Jump Tatiana Gusin 1.88m 1080
Shot Put Maggie Ewen 19.46m 1162
200 Meters Gabrielle Thomas 22.32 1148
Long Jump Taliyah Brooks 6.78m 1099
Javelin Throw Mackenzie Little 58.63m 1028
800 Meters Jazmine Fray 2:01.18 1098
Total Score 7811

If you add up all of the women’s bests from the current collegiate season, it would total 7811 points.

Three of the marks add more than 1100 points to the total, led by nearly 1200 from Jasmine Camacho-Quinn’s national-leading time in the 100 hurdles (12.53). Taliyah Brooks and Jazmine Fray are inches away from eclipsing that 1100-point barrier themselves at 1099 and 1098, respectively.

If you want to see a meet like this, where teams put forth their best athletes in each event of the multi, you might not have to wait too long.

“We have already talked with a few other school in our conference about putting on a HeptSquad/PentSquad indoors,” Parno said. “Eight schools. Each school brings one person for each event and the scores from these events go towards a squad multi score.

“We are always looking for ways to get our sport out there and I think a team event like this could continue that path. I think it can continue to unite different event areas in to one team and give another goal to shoot for.”