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Dedication to Decathlon A Big Piece of Mount St. Mary's Track Heritage

Published by
DyeStat.com   May 8th 2018, 10:15pm
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Decades of decathlon at heart of Mount St. Mary's program

By Brian Towey of DyeStat

PHILADELPHIA -- Jim Deegan has been around the Mount St. Mary's University track program for 62 years. A longtime head coach, Deegan retired 10 years ago yet still provides pole vaulting assistance as a volunteer.

The small (2,100 students) NCAA Division 1 Catholic college in rural western Maryland carries an unlikely distinction. Since 1965, some of the country's top athletes in the decathlon can been found at "The Mount."

"It's such a unique school," said Jay Phillips, Mount St. Mary's current head coach. "Not all 17-year-olds are looking to go to a small, Catholic college in Emmitsburg, Maryland. But for kids that do, it's such a good fit.

"It's just a place that does (the decathlon) well. And there aren't a lot of places that do it well."

Nurturing decathletes takes time (years) and patience. Sometimes, Phillips said, the school receives athletes ready-made for the multi. Quite often, it does not.

"For some athletes it's a multi-year commitment," Phillips said. "Not a lot of programs are willing to invest the resources to do it." 

Mount’s multis coach, Tim Nickas, was one of those athletes. Arriving from Ocean City, N.J. as a sprinter and a high jumper, he was steered towards the program by his high school coach, who knew of Deegan and The Mount's reputation.

"All I did in high school was sprint and high jump," Nickas said. "(Deegan) taught me everything I knew."

When Mickas left, he earned all-East recognition in the event. He isn't alone. The Mount boasts 10 Penn Relays decathlon champions, including William Motti, the meet's record-holder with 7,770 points. Motti later finished fifth in the event for France at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Frank Zarnowski, a recent USATF Hall of Fame inductee and perhaps the world’s leading authority and statistician (and announcer) on the decathlon, is a longtime Emmitsburg resident and former coach and professor at the school.

"There's a great sense of pride (among athletes) in the tradition with so many All-Americans and Olympians," Nickas said. "Every fall, some of them come back and talk about their experiences."

Other distinguished alums include Trond Skramstad, one of a number of celebrated Norwegian decathletes to represent the Mount; Jim Stevenson, a British All-American who served as the track and field program's head coach for nine years; and Harry Marra, formerly the coach of two-time Olympic decathlon champion and world record holder Ashton Eaton and his wife, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Brianne Thiesen-Eaton of Canada.

(Kenyan Peter Rono, who attended Mount St. Mary’s, was the 1988 Olympic champion 1,500 meters).

"I was a pole vaulter out of upstate New York," Marra said. "I broke four poles my freshman year. I got a little gun shy with the pole vault and I started doing the long jump and the javelin."

Marra sees value in the approach of Deegan and his proteges.

"If you want to do the event you have to go to a school that puts an emphasis on it," Marra said. "Georgia does it. The ideal thing is to go to a small school where, at dual meets, you can work on the things you are weak at. That's how you get better at it."

What makes The Mount such a unique place to be as a decathlete? The tiny town (3,000) brings together a track-friendly community with coaches who are eager to share their techniques. The school record book lists 10 men who have scored more than 7,500 points in the decathlon and 10 All-Americans.

"It's really neat that so many people here understand and support track," Nickas said. "How many places are there where the math and science professors know about the decathlon?

"We're not scared to bring in any athlete to try the event even if they've never done it. We have a lot of time to work with them."

Nickas cautioned that the training is intense, but it can be rewarding. Christopher Gabor, a redshirt junior at the Mount who has finished second in the decathlon at the Penn Relays the past three years, was a sprinter and a high school quarterback. He brought, "speed and a good arm" and "nothing” else, Deegan said.

"In high school I did track my junior and senior year and played football," Gabor said. "Tim Nickas grew up with my brother. He saw that I ran track but that I also played football and that I was athletic. I only ran the 100 and 200 in high school, but he called me up and said I had a good build to be a decathlete."

Gabor has thrived in the event, which demands intense preparation for each event during three to six hours daily.

Last weekend, Mount St. Mary’s won its first Northeast Conference men’s outdoor championship in 21 years (the meet does not stage the decathlon).

"For me, growing up, I've always been adaptable to different sports," Gabor said. "This was the first thing I've done that's hard to pick up because it's so technical."

According to Marra, training for the multis demands far greater time and preparation for coaches and athletes compared to individual events. It's a sacrifice that Deegan, Stevenson and now Nickas, have made.

"Not a lot of schools, especially small schools, do it," Gabor said. "You have SEC, Big 10 schools, schools with big facilities. It comes down to Nickas. He's been through it and loves the event. Tim does a great job of planning a full schedule that's adaptable and doesn't beat you up too much."

Gabor and D.J. Workcuff, another Mount decathlete, have forged a bond. In an event that tests an athlete’s physical and mental limits, these two push one another for more.  

And they do it on the Mount.

"There are still other places that do it, sure," Marra said. "But Mount is a good place to go."



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