by Kelsey Segren, Sports Information Assistant
McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Nick McGill won the decathlon with a career-best 6,838 points at the Northwest Conference Combined Event Championships hosted by Linfield on Monday and Tuesday.
McGill trailed Willamette's Keaton Beckmann by 217 points entering the second day of action. He took the lead after his 191' 5" throw in the javelin, the ninth event, and held on to first with a 4:50.92 finish in the 1500-meter run. Beckmann placed second with 6,788 points, just 50 points behind McGill.
McGill opened the day with a 15.85 time in the 110-meter hurdles, his highest scoring event, before throwing 119' 9" in the discus and clearing a career-high 13' 11" in the pole vault. He ranks third in the nation in the decathlon after Tuesday's results.
Travis Herrera placed third with 6,293 points, beating his previous best of 5,707 set at the Whitworth Multis in March. This score moves him into 12th on the Division III national list. He recorded personal bests in all five events on Tuesday, including clearing 15' 6.50" in the pole vault.
Nathan Dykstra (5,264 points) finished in fifth and Adam Cassidy (4,403 points) placed sixth. Dykstra set career bests in three of five events on Tuesday and improved on his previous decathlon score by 449 points. Cassidy set a personal best in the javelin (133' 11").
The final results will be scored as an individual event and the points earned will count toward Whitworth's total at the NWC Championships on May 13-14.
The Pirates host the Whitworth Twilight Invite on Wednesday at the Boppell Track, the final meet before the NWC Championships.
