FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas freshman Gunnar Nixon will head into the offseason with no regrets, as well as a world junior championship and a U.S. record.

Nixon, 19, won the decathlon Wednesday at the IAAF World Junior Championship at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium. Nixon, who was trailing with one discipline to go, dominated the 1,500 meters to win the title with 8,018points.

Nixon’s victory marks the first time an American has finished in the top three of the decathlon at the world junior championship. His point total broke the previous U.S. junior record, set by Arkansas teammate Kevin Lazas last year, by two points.

“Words can’t describe it,” Nixon said.

Nixon, also the U.S. junior champion, led the decathlon after five events Tuesday but fell behind during the final five events Wednesday. Nixon, of Edmond, Okla., trailed Australia’s Jake Stein by 86 points and had to win the 1,500 by 14 seconds to overtake him.

With 400 meters remaining in the race, Nixon led Stein by less than 10 seconds. But he pulled away with a strong final lap to finish in 4 minutes, 22.36 seconds and beat Stein by nearly 24 seconds. Nixon’s time was a personal best by more than eight seconds.

Stein finished second overall with 7,815 points.

“I knew I had it in me,” Nixon said. “I was feeling strong and laid it all on the track. I just said no regrets and just went after it.”

Arkansas assistant coach Travis Geopfert said Nixon has greatly improved in the past two months through personal maturation and better focus. Nixon, the national high school track athlete of the year last year, set the world junior record in the indoor heptathlon in his first event with the Razorbacks in January.

“He’s starting to figure some stuff out,” said Geopfert, who was in Barcelona with Nixon. “He did a great job. The last lap, Gunnar just laid it down. He buried [Stein] at the end.”

Nixon’s victory capped an eventful year for him. In addition to his junior titles, Nixon earned indoor heptathlon and outdoor decath-lon All-America honors at Arkansas.

“My mind was there, and I even thought if I had a great decathlon I could have 8,300,” Nixon said. “Eight thousand feels great. It’s a good finish to my junior career.

“Next year, there are much bigger and betterthings to come.”

Jarrion Lawson of Liberty-Eylau, Texas, finished third in the long jump with a distance of 25 feet, 0 3/4 inches and will compete in the triple jump today. Lawson, the U.S. junior champion in the long jump and triple jump, will be a freshman at Arkansas next year.

Jamaican hurdler Stefan Fennell, also a Razorbacks signee, was disqualified in the 110 hurdles semifinals.

Sports, Pages 13 on 07/12/2012