Gunnar Nixon went down to the wire before setting a national pentathlon record during the New Balance Indoor Nationals at the Armory in New York City.
The
Santa Fe (Edmond, Okla.) senior superstar had to run a time better than 2 minutes, 37.3 seconds in the last of his five events - the 1,000-meter run - to break the existing pentathlon standard.
Gunnar Nixon.
File courtesy of Carl Hawkins
He already had turned in these performances: 8.03 in the 60 hurdles, 23 feet, 6¾ inches in the long jump, 47-11¾ in the shot put and 6-6¾ in the high jump.
Jubilation reigned when he was clocked in an even 2:37 to give him a national record of 4,307 points. The previous record of 4,304 points by Donovan Kilmartin of Eagle (Idaho) had stood since 2003.
Nixon told MaxPreps while standing in noisy Times Square, "I feel good about it, but I could have broken it by 100 points."
He was referring to his sub-par high jump effort, an event in which he has cleared 7 feet several times in the past.
He explained, "The crowd was screaming during the whole running events. There was so much other stuff going on. I really couldn't get focused."
Nixon was particularly pleased by his personal record in the shot put.
"I broke it by 6 feet. I was hoping for 47-6, but went (just under) 48. I've gotten so much stronger," the 6-4, 175-pounder noted.
Next in his sights is the national decathlon record, which he hopes to break at the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational in April.
"I feel great. I want to be the first high school athlete to break 8,000 points," he said hopefully.
* Shelby Ashe, a powerful 5-9 senior from
St. Pius X Catholic (Atlanta), continues to set national records in the weight throw. She topped her own year-old record (65-4¼) with a winning toss of 68-2½ during the New Balance meet. She also had set a short-lived record of 66-10¾ in the preliminaries.
*
Cornwall Central (New Windsor, N.Y.) senior Aisling Cuffe won the New Balance two-mile in 9:56.85, the second-fastest in USA history. The record is 9:55.92.
*
Kell (Marietta, Ga.) sophomore sensation Kendell Williams won the pentathlon with 3,792 points (No. 3 all-time). She also was third in a photo finish in the open 60 hurdles in 8.44 seconds (her pentathlon hurdles time was 8.58). She had a personal record 5-9 ½ in the high jump. She also went 19-4 in the long jump, threw the shot put 26-0¼ and ran the 800 in 2:31.30.
Marquis Dendy.
Photo courtesy of Joy Kamani
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Middletown (Del.) senior Marquis Dendy won two national titles: 51-3¾ in the triple jump and a meet-record 25-3¼ in the long jump.
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Mount Ida (Ark.) senior pole vaulter Andrew Irwin out-dueled a field, which included three 17-foot vaulters, to win his specialty at 17-3¾.
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Summit (N.J.) senior Mark Jones won the high jump by leaping 7-0¼.
*
Morristown (N.J.) strongman Nick Vena captured his fourth consecutive national indoor title by winning the shot put with a throw of 69-4¼.
* Morgan LeLeux, a senior from
Catholic (New Iberia, La.), won the girls pole vault at 13-8¼ despite battling recent sickness.
