University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
NCAA Championships
Clark Earns All-America Honors in Decathlon
6/11/2009 8:00:00 AM | Track and Field
June 11, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Senior Mat Clark earned the third All-America honor of his career in the decathlon Thursday evening at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Fayetteville Ark. The Ames, Iowa native finished in ninth place overall, but fifth-best American-born athlete.
Clark finished the decathlon strong, recording the fastest time in the field in the 1500 meter run, clocking in at 4:16.06 and picking up 832 points, propelling himself from 11th place to ninth. Clark finished with 7,608 points. Ashton Eaton of Oregon won the event, finishing with 8,241 points.
Over the course of the second day, Clark clocked in a time of 16.14 in the 110-meter hurdles for 717 points followed by a heave of 127-10 in the discus for 644 points. In the pole vault the senior cleared 14-05 ¼ for 731 points followed by a javelin toss of 180-00 for 661 points.
Senior Tyler Mulder also qualified for the finals in the 800 meter run Thursday with a season-best time of 1:47.17. Mulder looked to be trapped in the middle of the pack with just under 240 meters left in the 800 meter run, but used a strong kick over the last 200 meters to come in second, right on the heels of Texas' Tevan Everett who came in at 1:46.97.
Mulder's time was the fourth-fastest semifinal time with Oregon's Andrew Wheating clocking in the fastest time, crossing in 1:46.21.
In a very tough 4x400 meter relay field, the Panthers quartet of Cory Goos, Greg Offerman and Ryan Grenko just missed making it to the final round, clocking in at 3:06.06. The quartet finished fourth in their heat, and with the 12th fastest semifinal time.
Florida State finished with the fastest 4x400 meter relay time, clocking in at 3:03.13.
“It was a great experience to be down here,” Offerman said. “We didn't quite get done what we wanted to, but there will be good that comes out of it and its good motivation for next year.”
In the 400-meter hurdles, Goos clocked in at 51.83, but failed to make the final round. Jeshua Anderson of Washington State clocked in the fastest 400-meter hurdle semifinal time, finishing in 49.27.
The Panthers return to the track tomorrow with Terrance Reid running in the semifinals of the 400 meter dash. The 400 meter dash is scheduled to take off at 7:25 p.m.
Players Mentioned
