College Notes: Denison's Brown breaks 19-year old decathlon record
When Jacob Brown walks through the Denison track facilities, he passes a banner commemorating Andy Stomwall, who set a school record in the decathlon during the 2003 outdoor season.
On Sunday, two weeks after meeting Stomwall, Brown broke that 19-year-old record, with a winning score of 6,092 points at the North Coast Athletic Conference Combined Events Championship, at Oberlin College.
Brown won the long jump (6.56 meters) and shot put (11.61) Saturday. He started day two with a win in the 110 hurdles (15.5 seconds, a personal record) before finishing third and fourth in the discus and pole vault, respectively. Brown concluded by winning the javelin with a throw of 44.02 meters and then the 1,500-meter run (4:49.58, a PR).
“The past few weeks a lot of events have been turning around for the better,” Brown said. “After I ran my 100 into some headwind, I was one-tenth of a second off of my personal record. I was confident I was going to do well and, of course, very happy I exceeded my expectations.”
Brown, who twice set school records in the heptathlon this season, bested Stomwall's mark by 380 points. It gave Brown what currently stands as the 13th best decathlon score in Division III this season. If he is in the top-20 later this month, Brown will qualify for the Division III NCAA Championships.
“Based on his performances earlier this year, we knew he could score around 6,000 points,” coach Mike Fitzpatrick said. “I’m really excited for him, and he now has the potential to be a national qualifier.”
Brown said meeting Stomwallhelped.
“It was nice to hear about his experiences, what the event meant to him, how he trained, how he improved,” Brown said. “(Stomwall) said 'I hope you break it’. It meant a lot to me once I crossed the finish line. All of the emotions flooded in.”
Brown will compete in individual events this weekend at the NCAC championship and in the decathlon at the North Central College (Ill.) combined events qualifier, May 16-17.
John Carroll golf team wins OAC Tournament for first time since 1997
John Carroll rallied from a 19-stroke deficit after two rounds to win its first Ohio Athletic Conference men’s golf championship in 25 years. John Roder, who was six-over par through two rounds, shot a 71 and 69 over the final two rounds (290 total) to co-medal with Mount Union’s Ian Smith. Jacob Hazen (Dublin Coffman) shot a 72 in the final round, including a birdie on the 17th hole, to tie for fourth place at 295. The team bested Otterbein by two strokes, 1,186-1,188.
Otterbein, winners of the previous six conference titles, was even-par through two rounds (574) but shot 612 over the weekend (+36). Sam Lahmon led the Cardinals with a 294 (+6). Capital, paced by Colin Frimel (295), finished fourth at 1,215.
The Blue Streaks qualified for its first postseason in 25 years, where they will compete in the Division III Championships, May 10-13 in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.
OSU forward Gabby Hutcherson transfers to Pitt
The University of Pittsburgh women’s basketball team has added forward Gabby Hutcherson to its roster. Hutcherson is transferring after two seasons with Ohio State, in which she averaged 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. She shot 39.1% from the field, including 35.2% from three-point range.
As a Westerville South grad, she was a five-star recruit, ranked No. 12 of the 2020 class according to Prospect Nation. She averaged a team-high 14.4 points as a senior and was named first-team all-district as well as the Ohio Capital Conference, Buckeye Division player of the year.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: College Notes: Denison's Brown breaks 19-year old decathlon record
