FAYETTEVILLE - If Kevin Lazas is to become Arkansas’ first NCAA Outdoor decathlon champion, he likely can’t take the same shortcut that helped him become the Razorbacks’ first NCAA Indoor heptathlon champion.
Lazas’ latest national title aspiration apparently must come directly through the SEC championship meet instead of circumventing it.
Correctly estimating that Arkansas could win the SEC Indoor team title last February with Lazas merely pole vaulting, Arkansas Coach Chris Bucknam and field events coach Travis Geopfert withheld Lazas from competing in the heptathlon.
That left Lazas refreshed for the heptathlon March 8- 9 at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and the junior from Brentwood, Tenn., pulled out a dramatic victory. Despite a pulled groin muscle, Lazas lunged across the finish line in the 1,000 meters close enough to Georgia’s Japteh Cato to outscore him with a school-record 6,175 points in the seven-event ordeal.
Lazas’ 10 first-place team points also helped Arkansas achieve its first national championship since retired Coach John McDonnell won his official final 40th in 2006.
Although a tighter finish is projected against Texas A&M and Florida for the SEC Outdoor meet next weekend in Columbia, Mo ., Arkansas still seems apt to repeat its SEC Outdoor title with Lazas just pole vaulting and long jumping instead of enduring the decathlon this close to the June 5-8 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Unfortunately, Lazas may not qualify for Eugene if he doesn’t compete in Columbia.
“The bottom line is Kevin’s score is on the bubble,” Geopfert said. “He didn’t score quite high enough [7,537 decathlon points] the last meet. With indoors it worked out perfect. He had six weeks to prepare for nationals and he nailed it. The time frame would have been the same if he had made it, but now we are on the bubble and it’s stressful.”
Lazas’ groin injury during his 17-8 1/2 heptathlon vault 30 minutes before his 1,000 finish March 12 was so severe that he didn’t attempt his first decathlon - a two-day grind that includes the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump,400-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500-meter run - until the Arkansas Invitational on April 27-28.
Lazas ranks 10th with the national top 24 by advancing to the NCAA meet, but peak performances likely loom in approaching conference championships beginning with the Big 12 and Pacific-12 meets.
“I counted 21 guys that are capable of passing him and 13 that should,” Geopfert said.
Arkansas could win an SEC championship with Nathanael Franks, Matt Kirbos and Julius Sommer manning the decathlon, which Lazas won in 2012 to become Arkansas’ first-ever SEC decathlon champion.
Nevertheless, it seems likely that Arkansas’ suddenly overworked champion will have to put in some more work next weekend in Columbia to work his way into the NCAA Outdoors meet in Eugene.
Sports, Pages 20 on 05/04/2013