The Kiwi is King: UAA's Cody Thomas wins NCAA Division II decathlon

After two days of sprinting, leaping, hurdling, throwing, heaving, vaulting and running a demanding distance to stamp his NCAA Division II decathlon dominance, all under a withering sun in Florida, Cody Thomas still had a little fuel left in the tank Friday afternoon.

As the UAA senior stood atop the eight-tiered podium to accept his trophy from Seawolves assistant coach Ryan McWilliams in Bradenton, he dropped into a squat and shared a long hug with his event coach.

"I was still warm," Thomas joked later, by cellphone. "I hadn't stiffened up yet."

Soreness came soon enough — hence the ice bath Thomas sat in as he spoke — but it was soreness to savor.

Thomas, a 23-year-old senior from New Zealand, became the fourth individual outdoor national track and field champion in UAA history by obliterating his personal best and winning the 10-event test by a whopping 242 points.

After seizing the first-day lead in Thursday's five events — Day 1 of the two-day event is Thomas' strongest day — the 6-foot, 180-pounder delivered the best Day 2 of his career and accumulated a school-record 7,590 points.

The Kiwi was King.

"Five years in the making," he said of his national crown. "Finally got one."

Thomas prospered by blazing to a personal record (PR) in Friday's opening event, the 110-meter high hurdles (14.74 seconds); flinging the discus a season-best 122 feet, 6 inches; matching his personal-best pole vault of 14-9; throwing the javelin a season-best 166-6; and cruising the 1,500 — his title was basically in the bag — in 4:44.69.

Thomas' 7,590 points marked an improvement of 389 points over his previous school record, set earlier this season in winning his third Great Northwest Athletic Conference title.

"That's a pretty substantial improvement," McWilliams said. "Not unheard of, but it's a big PR."

The pole vault and javelin, the eighth and ninth events in the schedule, proved pivotal for Thomas because he has been competing with a sore right shoulder. A decathlete is rarely fully healthy — the grind of training and competing stresses his body to its limit.

Yet Thomas delivered in the pole vault. His clearance of 14-9 was 2-4.5 higher than his mark at the GNACs and maintained his lead over the eventual runner-up, freshman Shakiel Chattoo of Azusa Pacific (7,348 points) and third-place finisher, defending champion Justin Balczak of Azusa Pacific (7,337).

"The difference between a good day (vaulting) and a not-so-good day can be 200 points," McWilliams said. "That kind of sealed it."

Even so, Thomas still had to negotiate the javelin, which pains his sore shoulder. He threw 150-11 on his first of three attempts — that mark was decent given Thomas' health — and passed on his second attempt. McWilliams said he considered having Thomas pass on his third attempt, but they agreed the Kiwi would muster one last heave, shoulder be damned. The result — 166-6, a big improvement.

And while Thomas led Chattoo by just 10 points entering the closing 1,500, he found comfort in his superiority in that event. Thomas this season had run the 1,500 nearly 45 seconds faster than Chattoo. He figured that as long as he stuck near Balczak — he actually beat Balczak (4:48.17) by more than three seconds — he would close his career as a champion. Thomas ran the 1,500 about 41 seconds faster than Chattoo.

The prospect of winning a national title, Thomas said, made his shoulder injury seem only a slight impediment.

"Once I got the adrenaline going, and the pain killer kicked in, I was good to go," he said with a laugh.

After Day 1, Thomas sat in an ice bath, hydrated, devoured a meal and hit his hotel bed at 10:30 p.m.

"Closed the eyes, and I was gone," he said.

He woke up rested — well, as much as a decathlete can be rested — and ready. His mantra: "Compete and compete, and try to hang on."

Thomas, who finished third in the heptathlon at indoor nationals earlier this year and was seventh in the decathlon at outdoor nationals in 2014, became the fourth Seawolf to win an individual crown outdoors. He joined long jumper David Registe (2008), 5,000-meter stalwart Micah Chelimo (2012) and javelin thrower Cody Parker (2013).

Several other UAA athletes were eliminated in preliminary races Friday, the second day of the three-day meet, though nearly all of them were seeded so low that qualifying for Saturday's finals would have required remarkable runs.

Junior Jamie Ashcroft finished 14th in the 200 meters (24.46). Sophomore Nathan Kipchumba, seeded seventh, finished 16th in the 800 meters (1:53.59) and junior Joe Day was 17th (1:53.59), .004 behind his teammate. Sophomore Tamara Perez took 17th in the 800 (2:13.43). And the 4×400-meter relay team of Liam Lindsay, Nicholas Taylor, Adam Commandeur and Thomas finished ninth (3:11.19), just .04 of a second from advancing.

Still, the Seawolves savored some salve — a national champion in Thomas.

"Pretty stoked," McWilliams said.