Iowa’s Austin West among the nation’s ‘best athletes’

The men’s decathlon and the women’s heptathlon are the toughest events in the world of track and field.

There’s a reason the title “world’s greatest athlete” was bestowed upon the Olympic decathlon champion for years.

The decathlon and heptathlon are track and field — singular events as a whole run over two days.

The decathlon’s 10 events are the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter dash the first day, the 110 high hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500-meter run the second. The seven in the heptathlon are the 100-meter dash, high jump, shot put and 200-meter dash on the first day, with the long jump, javelin and 800-meter run the second.

The NCAA Division I outdoor championships started Wednesday in Austin, Texas, and the University of Iowa has an athlete in both events, including former Iowa City West multisport standout Austin West in the decathlon.

Big Ten champion Tionna Tobias, an Iowa junior from Sicklerville, N.J., will be in the heptathlon, starting Friday.

So how does a kid who won state titles in the 400-meter dash and 400 hurdles — and place second in the long jump — end up a decathlete in college?

And not only a decathlete, but one of the best in the nation?

Well, first, it’s what West wanted when Joey Woody and the Hawkeye staff recruited him. And, Woody said, it was in West’s blood. His father did the decathlon in college.

And ...

“He’s one of the hardest workers we’ve got,” Woody said during a phone call Wednesday from Austin, a couple of hours before West began his quest.

Another thing, Woody said, is West not only works hard, but he works smart. He takes care of his body, getting the proper and right amount of nutrition — and rest. That’s an aspect a lot of young athletes haven’t figured out.

“He balances his energy,” said Woody, a former world-class hurdler himself in his day.

But it does seem quite remarkable when an Iowa high school athlete can excel in an event like the decathlon. Two of the disciplines — pole vault and javelin — are not part of this state’s offerings. And those are not easy events to learn, much less master.

Woody agreed it’s unusual, but noted “a couple of our best decathletes have been from Iowa,” mentioning former school record holder Will Dougherty from Moville.

West is the school record holder now, with a career best of 8,179 points. His 8,038 points earlier this season ranks him fifth in the competition, which started Wednesday.

“What he’s doing is pretty tremendous,” Woody said. “When you score 8,000 points, that’s pretty significant.”

Like all multisport competitors, West has his weaknesses. The pole vault remains a bit of a struggle, but West has taken his javelin “to the next level.”

“He’s a really good javelin thrower,” Woody said.

He actually ranks 10th in school history in that single event.

“He’s still learning,” Woody said, which is another of West’s strengths. He likes the decathlon because “there is always something to work on.”

What are his chances?

“He’s got a great shot,” Woody said. “He needs to focus on himself, not get caught up in what everybody else is doing.

“He’s really confident in himself.”

West was in fourth place after Wednesday’s first five events with 4,266 points. His day included a win in the 400-meter dash (46.56), a career-best in the shot put (46-6) and a 6-4 3/4 high jump.

“He really got things rolling in the shot put and got some momentum that carried him through the high jump,” Woody said in a news release. “He dominated the 400 and has a lot of confidence heading into day two.”

Woody also is confident in the rest of his teams — men and women. He said if “we do what I think we can do,” a Top 10 finish is possible for the men. The women, he said, are capable of a Top 20 finish.

The men’s team has made big strides since Woody took over in 2015.

“That’s kind of the next step for our program,” he said of a Top 10 finish.

The women’s program is on the move, too. Its best finish is 19th in 1992.

“We’ve definitely taken it to another level,” he said.

Overall, Woody thinks this will be a good weekend for the Hawkeyes.

“The kids are focused and in a good position,” he said. “Everybody is ready to go.”

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