NORWALK, Calif. – Connor Birtwhistle of the Cal Poly Pomona men's track and field team made his decathlon debut as a Bronco this week and narrowly missed a provisional mark, totaling 6,010 points in the multi-event portion of the California Relays hosted at Cerritos College.
Birtwhistle, a transfer from Cal State Stanislaus, set new personal bests in four of the 10 events and also tied a PR in the long jump. His previous top mark in the decathlon was 6,007 and this week's total of 6,010 is not far behind the "B" provisional mark of 6,300.
"I came into the second day with a lot of confidence," Birtwhistle said. "The big thing for me is staying consistent in the running and jumping events as well as working on the throws."
Fellow third-year
Jesse Guthrie also competed well this week at Cerritos, including a third-place showing in the 400-meter run with a time of 52.26.
Day One (Wednesday)
Birtwhistle found his rhythm in the long jump during day one, posting a distance of 20-0 that ranked fourth among the 10 competitors. He carried that momentum into the next event of shot put, where he recorded a 30-11 mark to pick up 451 more points.
The two Broncos almost matched each other in the high jump, with Birthwhistle soaring 5-09.75 while Guthrie went for a height of 5-05. Guthrie finished Wednesday well in the 400-meter event as he raced across the line in 52.26 to place third.
Day Two (Thursday)
Birtwhistle continued to excel on day two as he set personal bests in both the 110-meter hurdles and the 1,500-meter run. In the hurdles, he crossed the line in 16.48 to earn 680 points and then he raced to a time of 4:40.30 in the 1,500-meter event to tally another 678 points.
