Santa Fe: Gunnar Nixon wins epic decathlon showdown...

By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com

You know how golf is giving people the option of just following one group? I would have loved to have followed Edmond Santa Fe’s Gunnar Nixon and Brentwood, Tennessee’s Kevin Lazas through all 10 of the decathlon events at the Arcadia Invitational.

Nixon won an epic battle between the two, beating Lazas by a mere 63 points.

Here’s what I wrote for the paper:

Nixon comes from behind for decathlon win

Everyone in Oklahoma knows about how good Edmond Santa Fe’s Gunnar Nixon is in track and field.

Now everyone in the nation is finding out. Nixon set the second-best decathlon point total for a high school athlete in winning the event at the Arcadia Invitational this weekend in California.

Nixon posted 7,573 points while Kevin Lazas of Brentwood, Tenn., earned 7,510 points, the third best mark for a high schooler.

“This is the most fun I’ve had at a competition,” Nixon said. “It was back and forth both days, and I had to come from behind to win it.”

Nixon trailed Lazas by eight points heading into the final event, the 1,500-meter run. Nixon needed to beat Lazas by 1 second to win – Nixon beat him by 12 seconds.

The story with the two has been Lazas is stronger in the throwing competitions and Nixon a better runner. But Nixon gave himself a shot at beating Lazas by winning the javelin competition.

“That’s where I felt I won the competition,” Nixon said. “I was down and needed a big throw, and I got it.”

Nixon won five of the 10 events. Faring well at Arcadia has served as a good omen as 125 athletes have gone on to the U.S. Olympic team in the meet’s history.