Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Casey Tow finished third in the decathlon last week in the USATF Hershey National Junior Olympic Track & Field 17-18 Championships in Sacramento, Calif.
Competing in his fourth decathlon this year – and of his life, Tow scored 6197 points to finish behind winner Peyton Bair of the TNT Track Club of Kimberly, Idaho (6913 points) and Ryan Thoma of the Thriller Track and Field Club, of Port Orchard, Wash. (6392).
He finished ahead of fellow Oregonian Arthur Katahdin of Milwaukie, who scored 6180 for fourth, and Colby Wilson of Olympia, Wash., who was fifth (6074), giving Region 13 four of the top five finishers.
“We showed up in Region 13 pretty well,” Tow said.
Tow won the last two events of the 10-event, two-day competition in a field of 21 finishers. He took first in the javelin with a nearly 9-foot personal-best throw of 165-9, then left most of the field in the dust to win the final event, the 1500-meter run, in 4:32.85, another PR.
He was second in the discus throw (122-10) behind Katahdin (132-6), who won both heavy-implement throws. Tow was fourth in the shot with a PR of 40-9, sixth in the 400 (51.99), seventh in the 100, with a PR of 11.75, and in the high jump (5-9), 10th in the long jump (19-4¼), 13th in the 110 hurdles (16.54) and 14th in the pole vault (10-2).
The shot result was a pleasant surprise for him.
“I wasn’t hoping to hit 40 feet in the shot until next year.”
He entered the competition seeded second, after winning the regional meet July 4-5 with 6278 points.
“I was hoping to PR by a little bit,” he said, noting that he ended up with four personal bests, though his final score didn’t quite get there. “I came close. Peyton kind of blew it wide open, kind of blew us out of the water. Peyton is the real deal. He’s really fast.”
He said he was a little disappointed with his finishes in the hurdles and the long jump, though both were not far off the bests he posted at the regional meet.
Tow said the two-day nationals competition was a lot more drawn-out than the regional, which ended about 4 p.m. both days. Nationals stretched into the evening hours.
“He did really well just staying mentally tough,” said Coach Dakotah Keys, himself a top finisher at nationals and a five-time All-American in multi’s and three-time PAC-12 champion in the decathlon for the University of Oregon.
“He went out there, and the first day was, like, 11 hours. There were more kids, a bigger meet. There was waiting for other groups. His mental toughness was top-notch. He fought through some ups and downs and he got some good PRs.”
The heat in Sacramento was a factor, particularly in the 400, he said of the final event of the first day.
“I felt kind of sluggish.”
At the end of Day 2, Tow was eighth going into the final two events, the javelin – in which he gained two places, and the 1500, where he gained three more, beating his nearest competitor by seven seconds, all of which adds up significantly in the complicated points formula used to score decathlon events.
The latter was held about 8 p.m., Keys said, so the temperatures had dropped into the 80s.
“It was a really good field in the 1500 and we went out really fast,” Tow said.
“It was great to see that, to be able to jump ahead of those other competitors and make the top three. That’s kind of how my deck is set up. I don’t really score a lot of points until the last two events.”
He said the national meet was “more professional,” “a new kind of experience.”
As in other high-level meets, coaches and spectators were not permitted in the track area.
“There was not a lot of contact,” Tow said.
He said he enjoyed interacting with other competitors, who “will probably be competing against each other in college.”
Tow said he plans to concentrate on multi-events as he moves into his senior year.
“There’s definitely a lot of improvement I have in my deck,” he said.
Keys said Tow will work on the pole vault and start strength training.
“It’s just crazy how much he’s grown in just a month and a half since he started training this summer,” Keys said. “I don’t think he quite understands what taking third at nationals really means. A lot of kids tried to get there this year and didn’t make it. He’s humble about the whole thing.
“Just seeing him having the fun I remember having. I think he’s setting himself up for a lot of success. He’s not satisfied. I think he’s really excited about training, what it might bring for next year. He’s hard-working and very humble. That’s what’s so fun to watch.”