FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas senior Ayden Owens-Delerme won’t compete in the decathlon at this year’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships after winning the title in 2022.
Owens-Delerme had been expected to compete in the decathlon at the SEC Championships, which begin Thursday in Baton Rouge, to qualify for the NCAA meet. But instead he’ll run the 400-meter hurdles and be in the pool for the 400 and 1,600 relays.
The decision was made for Owens-Delerme not to compete in the SEC decathlon — and thus also miss the event at the NCAA meet — because he has been dealing with some nagging, recurring injuries, Arkansas Coach Chris Bucknam said.
The plan is for Owens-Delerme to be ready for the World Championships decathlon, which will be held Aug. 25-26 in Budapest, Hungary.
Competing for Puerto Rico, Owens-Delerme finished fourth in last year’s World Championships with a career-best 8,532 points.
“To put him in the best position to medal at the World Championships, we feel like the wear and tear of two decathlons [at the SEC and NCAA meets] before that takes place would be a detriment,” Bucknam said. “We’ve come to the conclusion that what’s best for him long-term is to focus on the 400 hurdles and the relays — give him that break from the decathlon so he can go on and prepare for the World Championships.”
Owens-Delerme, who on Wednesday was announced as the Co-SEC Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year for track and field along with Georgia sprinter Matthew Boling, made his collegiate debut in the 400 hurdles last month at the LSU Invitational and ran 50.28 to finish second. His time is tied for No. 6 on the UA’s all-time list and ranks No. 9 in the SEC this season.
“He beat some pretty credible athletes,” Bucknam said. “The weather wasn’t great, and the time was OK.
“We just think the second, third time he runs it, he might help us win [an SEC championship]. We’re just fortunate Ayden’s a team player and he’s not shutting it down. He’s going to stick his nose [in the 400 hurdles] and we’re going to see if he can score points at the SEC meet and at the national meet.
“We’ll get a good look on how that will play out moving forward, because the SEC is loaded in the 400 hurdles.”
When Arkansas won this year’s NCAA Indoor team title, Owens-Delerme took second in the heptathlon, then ran on the first-place 1,600 relay along with Connor Washington, James Benson and Christopher Bailey.
At last year’s SEC Outdoor Championships, Owens-Delerme took fifth in the 110-meter hurdles and ran on Arkansas’ second-place 400 relay and seventh-place 1,600 relay.