Colignon Finishes Fifth in NCAA Decathlon to Earn All-America Honors

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

DELAWARE, OHIO -- Evin Colignon (Sr., Poulsbo, WA/Charles Wright Academy) of Willamette University put together a strong second day to follow up on a solid first day of competition, as he finished in fifth place in the decathlon at the 2011 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday, May 27. Colignon achieved a personal record score of 6,614 points on his way to earning All-America honors.

Also for the Willamette men's track and field team on Friday, David Oppat (Sr., Beaverton, OR/Southridge HS) finished 18th in the shot put with a top throw of 50' 5.25".

For the WU women's team (see separate story), Kimber Mattox (Jr., Bend, OR/Bend HS/Cornell Univ.) took second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:26.79 and Brandi Miller (Jr., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS) placed 18th in the heptathlon with 4,291 points.

Colignon moved up two places in the decathlon from seventh place at the start of the day, using a third place finish in the javelin and a fourth place result in the discus to strengthen his score.

Ethan Miller from Central College (Iowa) won the decathlon with 7,170 points. Kurtis Brondyke, also from Central College, took second place with 7,109 points. Ben Harmon of Washington University (Mo.) placed third at 6,950 and Richard Roethel of Christopher Newport University (Va.) was fourth at 6,935.

Colignon followed in fifth place and held a 77-point edge on David Dillow of George Fox University, who finished sixth with 6,537 points. Also earning All-America honors were Garrett Harms from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.) in seventh at 6,536 and James Bell from Lynchburg University (Va.) in eighth at 6,439.

In the javelin, Colignon recorded a toss of 174' 4" on his final throw to take third place. He finished just 2' 7" behind Harms, who was first at 176' 11". Colignon's best throw in the discus covered 123' 3" as he grabbed fourth place.

Colignon was seventh in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.58 seconds, barely missing his personal record time of 15.52 by 0.06 seconds.

He tied for ninth and set a personal record in the pole vault by clearing 13' 1.50" on his third attempt. His previous career-best was 11' 11.75" at the NWC Multi-Event Championships on April 12, 2011. He placed 15th in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:53.37.

During the decathlon, Colignon placed among the top 10 finishers in six of the 10 events. In addition to his four top 10 results on Friday, he placed second in the shot put (43' 9.75") and was ninth in the 400-meter dash (51.19 seconds) on Thursday. His top event scores were 781 in the 110-meter hurdles and 761 in the 400-meter dash.

Winners in Friday's five decathlon events were: Miller in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.93 seconds, Brondyke in the discus at 129' 0", Harmon in the pole vault at 15' 5", Harms in the javelin and Dillow in the 1,500-meter run at 4:27.80.

Miller also won the 100-meter dash and the high jump on Thursday to help him claim the overall title.