Beckmann Moves into 19th in NCAA Division III with Score of 6,236 in Decathlon
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
NEWBERG, Ore. -- Keaton Beckmann (Fr., Salem, OR/Sprague HS) of Willamette University placed second in the decathlon at the Portland Twilight after the final five events were held on Friday, May 11. Beckmann set a personal record with 6,236 points and moved up two positions into 19th place on this year's NCAA Division III performance list. His previous top score in the decathlon was 6,184 points at the Willamette vs. Coban Dual on March 13-14.
The University of Portland is hosting the meet, but the decathlon, heptathlon, and field events are being held at George Fox University. The track events will be held at Lewis & Clark College on Saturday, May 12.
On Friday, Beckmann took second place in the 110-meter hurdles and the javelin throw, and placed third in the discus throw and the 1,500-meter run. He registered a time of 16.25 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and completed the 1,500-meter run in 4:46.93. Beckmann earned a top throw of 91' 9" for a personal record in the discus and tossed the javelin 166' 0." He cleared 10' 10.75" in the pole vault. On Thursday, he was first in the 100-meter dash, long jump, and 400-meter dash. He set a personal record at 11.04 seconds in the 100-meter dash.
Beckmann set a personal record by nearly 10 seconds in the 1,500-meter run. He missed his personal best in the pole vault by 1/4 of an inch.
Nicholas McGill from Whitworth University won the decathlon with 6,415 points. McGill won the discus throw, pole vault, and javelin throw on Friday, after tying for first place in the high jump during the first day of competition. His winning marks on Friday were 113' 10" in the discus, 11' 10.50" in the pole vault, and 175' 8" in the javelin. His top mark in the high jump on Thursday was 6' 0.75". McGill advanced from 17th to 10th on the NCAA performance list.
Third place went to Berkley Hill of George Fox, who scored 6,033 points. Brian Peck (So., Reno, NV/Reno HS) of Willamette was fourth with 5,628 points.
Keaton Wood of Linfield College, who began the day 12 points behind Beckmann in the overall standings, won the 110-meter hurdles in 16.00 seconds to move into first place, and remained in first place after taking second in the discus. He fell out of contention by not clearing a height in the pole vault. Wood began the competition ranked 12th in NCAA Division III and slipped to 13th when McGill moved higher on the list.
After the final last chance meets are held next week, the top 20 athletes in the decathlon will qualify for the 2018 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The NCAA Championships will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse from May 24 through May 26.