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A Historical Look at Rice Decathletes
9/28/2019 10:33:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Filip's performance at Thorpe Cup adds another chapter in Owls' dominance in decathlon
HOUSTON - Two recent Rice track and field athletes, Scott Filip and Charlie Card-Childers, ventured across the pond to Bernhausen, Germany, on September 14-15 to compete in the Thorpe Cup.
The Thorpe Cup, now in its 26th year and named in honor of Jim Thorpe, the first Olympic champion decathlete, pits a team of seven decathletes ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. against their counterparts from Germany.
And while uninformed fans might question how two athletes from a small, private university could end up on such an elite squad, those familiar with the Owls' history in the multi-events know that this is not a surprising result at all.
"As far as small schools and decathlon success go, that is quite normal," said Frank Zarnowski, decathlon historian. "Smaller schools often have an advantage over larger programs because they can spend more time working with the individual athletes."
Card-Childers, who was making his second appearance in this annual competition, and Filip, who won the event outright in 2016 and his runner-up finish this year marked his third time as the top American in this annual competition, are a part of a long line of top-flight Rice decathletes.
"Rice University, while being a relatively small school, has a rich history of successful decathletes over the years," said Rice multi-event coach Drew Fucci, himself a five-time member of the U.S. Thorpe Cup team. "In Conference USA as well as previous conferences Rice has been a part of, Rice has produced multi-athletes going back to Coach Ray Davidson."
Head Coach Jon Warren echoes Fucci's thoughts on the genesis of the Owls' multi-sport legacy.
"The person who got all this started is Raymond Davidson, who coached at Rice from 1987 to 2001," said Warren. "He recruited and coached the first decathletes as well as the, so far, best decathlete in school history."
"After Coach Davidson retired, we have been able to maintain the multi-event success by continuing what 'Coach D' started with a short string of other great coaches – Darrel Robinson, Casey Thom and, now, Fucci."
The Southwest Conference, Rice's athletic affiliation during the 1980s and into the mid-'90s, began including the decathlon in their championship meets during that decade and that's where the Owls storied history with the event also begins. Doug Miller and Eric Dorn, who became Rice's first athlete over 7000 points in 1988 with his bronze medal finish at the SWC championships, were two of the first of a long-line of multi-eventers to flourish on the Rice campus. In the late '90s, Rice scored its first conference title in the indoor pentathlon as Rashad Stafford turned the trick in back-to-back years to cement his legacy as Rice's first multi-event conference titlist.
Stafford's achievement seemingly opened the floodgates, as the Owls have won an astonishing 26 indoor and outdoor crowns at the conference meet in the multi-event disciplines since 1998. On numerous occasions they have had three athletes in the scoring positions at the conference championships, a remarkable display of depth.
Leading the way at the top of most of the charts for the Owls is 2011 USA team member for the World Championships of Track and Field, Ryan Harlan. The school record-holder in the decathlon (8171) was a three-time NCAA All-American, including in 2004 when he won the collegiate title with his best-ever score.
Before arriving on campus, Harlan had never competed in three of the decathlon's 10 events (pole vault, shot put, and javelin), yet one year later he won the USA Junior title with a score of 6835 points. Unfortunately, the multi-event discipline had not moved undercover prior to him exhausting his eligibility (the indoor heptathlon was added by the WAC for the 2004 campaign, following his final indoor season with the Owls), but he did win two USATF national titles in the indoor heptathlon (2005 and 2006) to go along with the NACAC title in the decathlon in 2007. Additionally, he was a two-time silver medalist in the decathlon at the USATF national championships, earning that honor in both 2006 and 2011.
When Harlan finished his Rice career, he left as the second Owl to break 7000 points and the only to surpass the 8000-point barrier. In fact, his school record put him over 1000 points ahead of the second-best athlete in school history, Dorn's 7030 from 1988.
But in the subsequent years, a number of athletes have come along who, while they haven't been able to knock Harlan from his perch atop the Owls record book, have continued the tradition of excellence in both the indoor and outdoor versions of the multi-events. Included in that group are four athletes that have eclipsed the 7500 point mark: Filip (7915), who has seven conference titles in the multi-events to go along with three top-eight finishes at the NCAA outdoor meet; Clayton Chaney (7678), who garnered four conference crowns and qualified twice for the NCAA outdoor championships; Card-Childers (7529), who finished 12th in the decathlon at the NCAA meet in 2019 and has twice been selected to represent the U.S. at the Thorpe Cup; and Philip Adam (7514), who has four conference titles and three NCAA decathlon competitions on his resume.
Ryan Walsh (7196), a three-time conference champion who qualified for the NCAA championships in 2006 and the aforementioned Dorn (7030), who held the school record for 16 years, round out the Rice contingent to score more than 7000 points.
The Owls legacy in the decathlon will continue, at least in the near future, with several talented athletes currently competing for Rice. Included on this list of athletes to watch is sophomore Corbett Fong, who placed fifth both indoors and outdoors at the conference championships as a freshman, plus has a 6766 PR from his victory at the USATF Under 20 National Championships this summer.
Another athlete to keep an eye on is true freshman Grant Levesque from El Paso Coronado. The reigning UIL 6A state champion in the pole vault at 16-6, who also qualified for the state finals in the high hurdles, has also scored over 6500 points in the decathlon and was the runner-up at the 2018 USATF Hershey National Junior Olympics.
Sophomore Keegan O'Connor also has collegiate multi-event experience under his belt, having finished 11th indoors and seventh outdoors at the conference championships last spring. Two freshmen, Chance Allshouse and Dillon Stewart, come in with impressive pedigrees but haven't tackled a decathlon thus far.
But is there a correlation between success as a student at Rice and top-notch decathlon abilities?
"Our recipe for success is to recruit athletes that can not only develop into top decathletes as well as athletes able to score in open events," said Fucci, who specifically mentioned Card-Childers talents in the javelin and pole vault and Filip's long jump skills. "I do think it takes a certain type of individual to become a successful decathlete and Rice has found that 'type' of athlete."
The Thorpe Cup, now in its 26th year and named in honor of Jim Thorpe, the first Olympic champion decathlete, pits a team of seven decathletes ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. against their counterparts from Germany.
And while uninformed fans might question how two athletes from a small, private university could end up on such an elite squad, those familiar with the Owls' history in the multi-events know that this is not a surprising result at all.
"As far as small schools and decathlon success go, that is quite normal," said Frank Zarnowski, decathlon historian. "Smaller schools often have an advantage over larger programs because they can spend more time working with the individual athletes."
Card-Childers, who was making his second appearance in this annual competition, and Filip, who won the event outright in 2016 and his runner-up finish this year marked his third time as the top American in this annual competition, are a part of a long line of top-flight Rice decathletes.
"Rice University, while being a relatively small school, has a rich history of successful decathletes over the years," said Rice multi-event coach Drew Fucci, himself a five-time member of the U.S. Thorpe Cup team. "In Conference USA as well as previous conferences Rice has been a part of, Rice has produced multi-athletes going back to Coach Ray Davidson."
Head Coach Jon Warren echoes Fucci's thoughts on the genesis of the Owls' multi-sport legacy.
"The person who got all this started is Raymond Davidson, who coached at Rice from 1987 to 2001," said Warren. "He recruited and coached the first decathletes as well as the, so far, best decathlete in school history."
"After Coach Davidson retired, we have been able to maintain the multi-event success by continuing what 'Coach D' started with a short string of other great coaches – Darrel Robinson, Casey Thom and, now, Fucci."
The Southwest Conference, Rice's athletic affiliation during the 1980s and into the mid-'90s, began including the decathlon in their championship meets during that decade and that's where the Owls storied history with the event also begins. Doug Miller and Eric Dorn, who became Rice's first athlete over 7000 points in 1988 with his bronze medal finish at the SWC championships, were two of the first of a long-line of multi-eventers to flourish on the Rice campus. In the late '90s, Rice scored its first conference title in the indoor pentathlon as Rashad Stafford turned the trick in back-to-back years to cement his legacy as Rice's first multi-event conference titlist.
Stafford's achievement seemingly opened the floodgates, as the Owls have won an astonishing 26 indoor and outdoor crowns at the conference meet in the multi-event disciplines since 1998. On numerous occasions they have had three athletes in the scoring positions at the conference championships, a remarkable display of depth.
Leading the way at the top of most of the charts for the Owls is 2011 USA team member for the World Championships of Track and Field, Ryan Harlan. The school record-holder in the decathlon (8171) was a three-time NCAA All-American, including in 2004 when he won the collegiate title with his best-ever score.
Before arriving on campus, Harlan had never competed in three of the decathlon's 10 events (pole vault, shot put, and javelin), yet one year later he won the USA Junior title with a score of 6835 points. Unfortunately, the multi-event discipline had not moved undercover prior to him exhausting his eligibility (the indoor heptathlon was added by the WAC for the 2004 campaign, following his final indoor season with the Owls), but he did win two USATF national titles in the indoor heptathlon (2005 and 2006) to go along with the NACAC title in the decathlon in 2007. Additionally, he was a two-time silver medalist in the decathlon at the USATF national championships, earning that honor in both 2006 and 2011.
When Harlan finished his Rice career, he left as the second Owl to break 7000 points and the only to surpass the 8000-point barrier. In fact, his school record put him over 1000 points ahead of the second-best athlete in school history, Dorn's 7030 from 1988.
But in the subsequent years, a number of athletes have come along who, while they haven't been able to knock Harlan from his perch atop the Owls record book, have continued the tradition of excellence in both the indoor and outdoor versions of the multi-events. Included in that group are four athletes that have eclipsed the 7500 point mark: Filip (7915), who has seven conference titles in the multi-events to go along with three top-eight finishes at the NCAA outdoor meet; Clayton Chaney (7678), who garnered four conference crowns and qualified twice for the NCAA outdoor championships; Card-Childers (7529), who finished 12th in the decathlon at the NCAA meet in 2019 and has twice been selected to represent the U.S. at the Thorpe Cup; and Philip Adam (7514), who has four conference titles and three NCAA decathlon competitions on his resume.
Ryan Walsh (7196), a three-time conference champion who qualified for the NCAA championships in 2006 and the aforementioned Dorn (7030), who held the school record for 16 years, round out the Rice contingent to score more than 7000 points.
The Owls legacy in the decathlon will continue, at least in the near future, with several talented athletes currently competing for Rice. Included on this list of athletes to watch is sophomore Corbett Fong, who placed fifth both indoors and outdoors at the conference championships as a freshman, plus has a 6766 PR from his victory at the USATF Under 20 National Championships this summer.
Another athlete to keep an eye on is true freshman Grant Levesque from El Paso Coronado. The reigning UIL 6A state champion in the pole vault at 16-6, who also qualified for the state finals in the high hurdles, has also scored over 6500 points in the decathlon and was the runner-up at the 2018 USATF Hershey National Junior Olympics.
Sophomore Keegan O'Connor also has collegiate multi-event experience under his belt, having finished 11th indoors and seventh outdoors at the conference championships last spring. Two freshmen, Chance Allshouse and Dillon Stewart, come in with impressive pedigrees but haven't tackled a decathlon thus far.
But is there a correlation between success as a student at Rice and top-notch decathlon abilities?
"Our recipe for success is to recruit athletes that can not only develop into top decathletes as well as athletes able to score in open events," said Fucci, who specifically mentioned Card-Childers talents in the javelin and pole vault and Filip's long jump skills. "I do think it takes a certain type of individual to become a successful decathlete and Rice has found that 'type' of athlete."
-RiceOwls.com-
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Combined Events
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Combined Events
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Decathlon
/ Men's Track & Field
Combined Events
/ Men's Track & Field
Decathlon
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