After 1st event A & M's Otto in first. Beat Pappas and Detmer. Whoop!

Trinity Otto tops the deca long jump with a windy 24-3 1/2 for 910 points. His two-event tally is 1832, 33 points ahead of Detmer.

After 4 events Otto in 2nd behind Pappas. Pappas had a massive shot at 55!

Otto holds on to 2nd place at the end of day one! WHOOP!!

Trinity Otto places fifth in decathlon at U.S. Championships
Otto completes fourth decathlon of the season, earns a trip to Germany for a fifth multi

June 26, 2010


DES MOINES, Iowa - Texas A&M senior Trinity Otto completed the second day of the decathlon in fifth place at the U.S. Championships hosted by Drake University.

With a score of 7,592 points Otto finished his fourth decathlon of the season, the most he has attempted since becoming an Aggie a few years ago. When Otto arrived on campus in the fall of 2005 from Class 1A Lindsay he learned for the first time what a decathlon actually consisted of.

"This is definitely the most I've done in one season," Otto said. "Usually I just do three. To get a fourth one in, especially just two weeks after the last one, I've never done that before.

"When I arrived on campus and they asked me to do the decathlon and I said `ok, I don't know what it is, but I'll do it.' I took a chance, the coaches took a chance and I'm glad it all worked out really well."

Otto's senior campaign with A&M only included the outdoor season. He placed third in three decathlons - Texas Relays (7542w), Big 12 (7270) and NCAA Championships (7724 PR) - before his fifth place effort in the U.S. Championships.

His bronze medal effort in Eugene, which provided the Aggies with six vital points towards the team championship, earned Otto his career best score.

"This is something special," Otto exclaimed. "In high school I would have never dreamed I would have all these opportunities I've had. Being at Texas A&M has been one of the greatest experiences of my life in what I've done with track and other things."

Now Otto will be in the pool for selection to represent the United States in the Thorpe Cup, an annual competition pitting six American decathletes against six German decathletes. This year's event takes place August 7-8 in Marburg, Germany. (he was selected) whoop

The second day of the decathlon opened with the 110 hurdles and Otto set his best time, a wind-aided 14.57. Then a 126-7 (38.60) followed in the discus as well as a 14-1.25 (4.30) pole vault. With a 168-3 (51.28) javelin Otto reached a point total of 7,000 points.

"The hurdle PR was awesome to start the second day with," noted Otto. "After the pole vault I thought that was it. Then I threw well in the javelin, but I didn't know where I was at point-wise. Coach told me if I run the 1500 like I can then I would have a chance to finish in the top six. I gave it everything I had and ended up in fifth."

A 4:54.42 in the 1,500 meters kept Otto ahead of Big 12 rival Nick Adcock, who placed sixth with a score of 7,579.

Jake Arnold passed Tom Pappas in the last event, scoring 8,215 points to win by 114 points. Pappas placed second with an 8,101 tally while Joe Detmer finished third with 8,009 points. Clemson's Miller Moss passed Otto for fourth place, scoring 7,614 as he ran the 1,500 in 4:39.66.