National High School Records Through the Years

Boys Outdoor Record – Decathlon

Milt Campbell (Plainfield, New Jersey)

Performance – 6,988 points

Date – July 1-2, 1952

Place –Tulare, California

Meet – U.S. Olympic Trials

Previous Record – 6,716 by Bob Mathias (Tulare, California) June 26-27, 1948, in Bloomfield, New Jersey

Milt Campbell was one of the greatest high school trackmen in American history. In the first decathlon of his life, as an 18-year-old junior at Plainfield HS in New Jersey, 73 years ago this week, he finished 2nd to Bob Mathias, at the time the reigning Olympic champion, at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Tulare, Calif., Mathias’s hometown. (Because the scoring tables were overhauled in 1985, the scores shown here reflect the revised tables. His actual score at the Trials was 7,055.) At the Olympic Games later that month, in Helsinki, Finland, Mathias repeated as Olympic champion while Campbell won the silver. One year later, his senior year, Campbell won the AAU Nationals and set his third decathlon HSR, and at the ensuing Olympics, in Melbourne in 1956, Campbell won the gold medal. He was superb in many sports – All-American swimmer, pro football player, karate champion. His best individual track event was the high hurdles, in which he was NCAA champion for Indiana University and in which he equaled the world record in 1957, running 13.4. 

National High School Records Through the Years appears once a week, compiled and written by a track historian, Jack Pfeifer (Lake Oswego, Oregon). Inquiries may be directed to him by email (jack.pfeifer@gmail.com).