Thompson-Siporen Earns Decathlon Runner-Up Honors in Close Finish

Thursday, May 9

Missoula, MT

10 a.m.

Montana State University

Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships - Day Two

Photo by: Todd Goodrich

Thompson-Siporen Earns Decathlon Runner-Up Honors in Close Finish

5/9/2019 4:44:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

Results

MSU's Wyatt Thompson-Siporen earned silver in the decathlon Thursday in an event that went down to the finish line

By: Andrew Pedersen

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field decathlon competition came down to the final event. Montana State's Wyatt Thompson-Siporen and Montana's Brendan Thurber-Blaser were neck-and-neck down to the 1,500-meter finish line, but Thurber-Blaser narrowly outkicked Thompson-Siporen to earn the event championship at Dornblaser Field on Thursday.

Thompson-Siporen went into the final event trailing Thurber-Blaser by 13 points. The two athletes moved into the top two spots in the decathlon when leader Donte Robinson of Portland State didn't complete a mark in the pole vault. Thompson-Siporen had the top clearance in the pole vault of 16 feet, 1.75 inches (4.92m), then completed the top throw in the javelin of 190-04 (58.01). Thurber-Blaser took second in both events and needed to beat Thompson-Siporen in the 1,500 to earn the conference crown.

"Brendan and I have been competing against each other since high school, so this was actually a lot of fun, it was kind of a run back," MSU's Thompson-Siporen said. "I thought to myself that 'it was time to go get some marks.' Today definitely showed how many different things can mess up your game in the multi, it's really tough."

The two competitors ran the 1,500 side-by-side until the final lap. Thompson-Siporen took a solid lead with roughly 300 meters to go, but Thurber-Blaser regained the advantage down the final straightaway and finished ahead of the Bobcat junior with a time of 4 minutes, 50.82 seconds. Thompson-Siporen earned a personal-best time of 4:52.20.

The Montana sophomore claimed gold in the event with a final score of 7,154 points, while Thompson-Siporen finished with 7,132 points. Thompson-Siporen's score is the seventh best in program history.

"It's kind of the dream to be 1-2 and basically tied going into the 1,500. I mean it's not my dream, it's probably somebody's dream.

"It was fun, I got a (personal best) in the 1,500 so I was happy with the race overall. I just didn't quite have enough to get it done at the end. That's just how it goes. I definitely left it all on the track."

Thompson-Siporen came into the day in fifth place before jumping up the individual standings. He began the day by taking seventh overall in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.50. He also took second among the decathletes in the discus with a throw of 125-06 (38.26m). His next appearance will be in the men's pole vault which is slated to take place on Saturday.

"It's going to be really nice to be able to open up in the vault," Thompson-Siporen said. "I don't know how much gas I'll have which is one thing, but I got some practice in today.

"It's been a weird season, it'll be fun to close it out in the pole vault. It was great having everybody here cheering during the last event. The bus showed up right at the end which was great timing."

The rest of the Big Sky Conference Championship's individual events begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 10, at Dornblaser Field. The meet runs through Saturday at the University of Montana's track and field facility.