Arizona freshman Dominic Gehr will be competing in only his second collegiate decathlon this weekend. Alyssa Thompson is a fifth-year senior ranked 13th nationally in the heptathlon.
The two UA athletes could give the Wildcats men’s and women’s track and field teams an early boost in scoring at the multi-event competition of the Pac-12 championships. The other track and field events will be contested next week.
Gehr, the 2017 state prep decathlon champion from Marana High School, will tackle the demanding 10-event decathlon over two days at the Stanford track. On Saturday, he’ll compete in the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter dash. On Sunday, he’ll line up for the 110-meter high hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500-meter run.
“It’s pretty rare for a freshman to come in ready to compete at a high Pac 12, NCAA level,” said UA assistant coach Matthew McGee.
McGee credited former Marana coach Marty Honea with helping Gehr develop early as a decathlete while in high school. Honea now coaches at Central Arizona College.
Gehr ranks 48th in the country in his specialty. But because the Pac-12 is not particularly strong in decathletes this year, Gehr’s decathlon score of 6,709 is third highest in the league.
Thompson, meanwhile, already has had an outstanding career at the UA, both on the track and in the classroom. Thompson maintains a 4.0 GPA, and recently was admitted to the UA School of Medicine in Tucson. She has been chosen as valedictorian for the graduation ceremony for Wildcats athletes.
Thompson placed second in the Pac-12 heptathlon two years ago, and then took a redshirt year last season to work on an Eller College project. Among Pac-12 athletes, Thompson holds the third highest heptathlon score, 5,596, posted at the Jim Click meet in early April.
“Alyssa is physically and technically ready for a big competition, and the competition is very solid, especially at the top,” McGee said.
Alissa Brooks-Johnson of Washington State has the nation’s eighth-highest score, and Kendall Gustafson of UCLA stands just above Thompson at No. 12.
“I’m eager to see what all these months and years of hard work will result in for Alyssa,” McGee said.
Thompson got an early start in track and field as an 8-year-old with the mentoring of her mom, Loree. As a Salpointe Catholic senior, Thompson won Arizona state championships in the long jump, triple jump, 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles.
Her schedule for Saturday is no cake walk. It starts with the 100-meter hurdles, followed by the high jump, shot put and 200-yard dash. On Sunday, she’ll do the long jump, javelin and 800-meters run.
In both the decathlon and heptathlon, an athlete’s performance is scored according to a standard point system. For example, in the Jim Click meet, Thompson gained 887 points for running the 100-meter hurdles in 14.66 seconds. Her lowest score was in the shot put where she collected 643 points for a throw of 38 feet, 5½ inches.
Thompson’s strongest event is the long jump, in which she soared 20 feet 5½ inches Saturday at the Desert Heat Classic.
“If she executes in competition what she’s been doing in training, she’ll be very, very successful,” McGee said.
