Pihl Led BYU’s Decathlon Dominance In 1975

Celebrating A Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships

Pihl Led BYU’s Decathlon Dominance In 1975

Raimo Pihl’s final collegiate competition at the 1975 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships resulted in the most dominant NCAA decathlon performance ever seen – with special thanks to his BYU teammates. 

It wasn’t that Pihl’s victory wasn’t impressive enough in itself: His 8079-point score established a meet record and his 232-point margin of victory was the second largest in meet history. In fact, his total was just 10 points off the collegiate record set by C.K. Yang of UCLA in 1963, when Yang’s 8089 was also a world record. 

Cougars were everywhere in the 1975 NCAA decathlon as host BYU went 1-3-5-6-7, the first time any program in any event had five finishing in the top-7. As part of an incredible show of dominance, all five BYU decathletes finished with more than 7000 points – and that didn’t even include defending NCAA champ Runald Backman, who redshirted the 1975 season. 

Pihl – returning from a redshirt after a 1973 NCAA title when he won by just five points – was his usual dominant self, finishing first in six of the 10 events and winning by 232 points. 

As a post-collegian, Pihl was fourth in the decathlon at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He later became a prominent coach in his native Sweden, and his pupils included Patrik Boden of Texas, the last collegian to set a world record outdoors with a javelin heave of 89.10m (292-4) in 1990.

posted: November 2, 2020
1921-2021
The NCAA's First Championships

The NCAA and collegiate track & field will mark a momentous milestone in the spring of 2021 -- the 100th anniversary of the NCAA Championships and with that, the NCAA Track & Field Championships. In June 1921, the University of Chicago hosted the first track & field championships in NCAA history.

This point can’t be emphasized enough: Not only was the event the first for NCAA track & field, but the first championships for any sport under the sponsorship of the NCAA.

To celebrate, over each of the next 365 days, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) will celebrate moments, student-athletes, and coaches that have made a century’s worth of championships special. From humble beginnings to important historical milestones to the modern-day, collegiate track & field has evolved with the American society.

The 2021 edition of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships begin with preliminary round action on May 27-29 in Jacksonville, Fla., and College Station, Texas. The championships final site and culmination of the celebration is slated for June 9-12, 2021 at the newly rebuilt Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Memorable Moments