AZUSA, Calif. – Florida sophomore decathlete Gray Horn turned in the second-best decathlon score in school history Thursday after totaling 7,566 points to place third in the Mt. Sac Relays decathlon at Cougar Stadium on the Azusa Pacific University campus.
Horn entered the competition fourth all-time in Florida history, but after his performance, he is now second, having passed Liston Bochette (7,565). Mike Morrison (7,803) holds the Florida record set on April 17, 2008.
“This was a really successful start to the outdoor season for Gray,” Florida multi-events coach Mellanee Welty said. “He came in here and had a good meet with a PR overall. The running events came easily to him and that’s a really good sign of things to come. We’ve seen a lot of improvement as we get ready to go into the championship season.”
Horn opened up Thursday with a personal-record time of 14.59 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles. That topped his previous personal-best time of 14.62 and his previous-best decathlon PR of 14.74.
Horn followed up with a fourth-place finish in the discus at 127 feet, 10 inches, just off his personal-record throw of 128 feet even recorded at last year’s SEC Outdoor Championships. Horn then placed fifth in the pole vault with a 14-foot, 9-inch effort, and he then finished ninth in the javelin with a toss of 156 feet, 8 inches.
Horn then finished the decathlon by winning the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:30.76.
MT. SAC RELAYS
At Cougar Stadium, Azusa (Calif.) Pacific University
Decathlon: 1. Lars Rise (Missouri) 7,693 points; 2. Nick Adcock (Missouri) 7,672; 3. Gray Horn (Florida) 7,672; 4. Bjorn Johansen (Akron) 7,432; 5. Weston Leutz (North Dakota State) 7,290; 6. Jeremy Taiwo (Washington) 7,289; 7. Philip Adam (Rice) 7,244; 8. Nick Trubachik (Portland State) 7,240; 9. Daniel Kinsey (Akron) 7,206; 10. Casey Stevick (Azusa Pacific) 6,912; 11. David Pichler (unattached) 6,693; 12. Ted Rud (North Dakota State) 6,083.
Wednesday events
100 meters: T1. Gray Horn (Florida) 10.85 seconds (895 points); Long jump: 1. Gray Horn (Florida) 24 feet, 3 inches (908 points); Shot put: 13. Gray Horn (Florida) 39 feet, 2½ inches (603 points); High jump: 6. Gray Horn (Florida) 6 feet, 5 inches (767 points); 400 meters: 5. Gray Horn (Florida) 50.45 seconds (794 points).
Thursday events
110-meter hurdles: 4. Gray Horn (Florida) 14.59 seconds (900 points); Discus: 4. Gray Horn (Florida) 127 feet, 10 inches (643 points); Pole vault: T5. Gray Horn (Florida) 14 feet, 9 inches (760 points); Javelin: 9. Gray Horn (Florida) 156 feet, 8 inches (555 points); 1,500 meters: 1. Gray Horn (Florida) 4:30.36 (742 points).