Joey Duarte a Seoul Man? : Notre Dame Decathlete May Be Ready for ’88 Olympics

Joey Duarte was suffering from the flu the first time he competed in a decathlon.

After the first event, the 100-meter dash, Duarte threw up, but somehow he managed to complete the two-day, 10-event series--finishing in second place.

That was last year.

This year the 18-year-old senior at Notre Dame High has advanced so far that he may have to do some Seoul-searching.

“Joey should be thinking about Seoul and 1988 as a legitimate goal,” John Mack, the track coach at Notre Dame said. “There are so many events he can improve in. If he can get up to 7,500 points by next year, it’ll put him up there with the Olympians.”

Before Duarte starts giving thought to competing in South Korea, however, he’ll have to concentrate on the current track season.

Notre Dame is undefeated this season in five meets. Duarte has had a big hand in keeping the Knights atop the Del Rey League.

His strongest events are the hurdles races, but the 6-0, 175-pound athlete has also done well in the long jump, high jump and triple jump. He has also run in relays.

“Having Joey is like having four guys in one,” Mack said.

Duarte usually competes in three individual events and one team race for Notre Dame. Four Duarte victories in one meet accounts for 20 points.

Not bad for a guy who didn’t start in track until he was a freshman at the Sherman Oaks school.

“I was in a P.E. class when our teacher made us run a 440,” Duarte said. “I ran it against some of the fastest people in class and some of the fastest football players.”

The result?

“I beat them pretty bad,” he said with a laugh.

As a freshman, Duarte long jumped and triple jumped. He started in the hurdles as a sophomore and has made his mark by consistently lowering his marks.

His best time in the 110-meter high hurdles has been 14.2. Duarte has run the collegiate hurdles--which are three inches higher than high schools’ 39-inch hurdles--in 15.0.

Some of his other top marks include: 10.9 in the 100, 51.3 in the 400, 22.7 in the 220, 6-1 in the high jump, 21 feet in the long jump, 12-2 in the pole vault, 38 feet in the shot put, 123 feet in the discus and 155 feet in the javelin.

“I enjoy track,” Duarte said. “It’s the competition, I guess. I really don’t know.”

He also didn’t know how he would do in his first decathlon.

“It looked pretty challenging, putting 10 events together,” he said.

Duarte lost his first decathlon probably because he failed to clear the opening height in the pole vault, thus scoring no points.

He has competed in two decathlons since and has won both. He scored 6,386 points in a meet in January.

“That mark would have ranked him fifth in the nation last year among high school athletes,” Mack said. “He could do quite a bit in the decathlon. He doesn’t have a lot of experience in the discus, the javelin, the shot put.

“With a good, full year of training he could improve his marks considerably. In the throws, the javelin and the discus he could pick up 300 to 400 points alone.”

Is Duarte thinking about the Olympics?

“It’s pretty far away,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

First, there is college to think about. San Diego State, UC Irvine, Long Beach State and UCLA are among the schools that have expressed an interest in Duarte.

San Diego State, Duarte said, is his likely home next year.

“In college, I’d like to compete in the decathlon and the hurdles. And maybe a few other events,” he said.

Duarte sees his future in the decathlon, adding, “I don’t think I’ll be a world-class hurdler.”

But before Duarte has visions of becoming the next Rafer Johnson--or even before thoughts of NCAA titles leap in his head--he wants to finish off his senior year with a flourish.

The state finals will be held the first week in June in Sacramento.

“I’d like to see him compete in three or four events in the CIF (Southern Section) finals,” Mack said. “If he’s in three events he can score quite a bit of points. His goal is to score as many points as possible at CIF for the team, then concentrate on individual (marks) at the state.

“Until the state, he’s all team.”

Duarte ran a 14.4 to lead a Notre Dame sweep in the 110-meter high hurdles Thursday. He also finished second in the 220-yard dash with a time of 22.8.

Notre Dame’s 440-yard relay team lost to St. John Bosco because the baton exchange to Duarte, the anchor leg, was bad. The Braves won the race with a time of 44.2, just ahead of Notre Dame at 44.4

The Knights’ mile-relay team, again anchored by Duarte, had a victory taken away when one Notre Dame runner was declared ineligible for running with an incomplete uniform.

Notre Dame’s record in the Del Rey League improved to 3-0 with the win. Fabian Biagetti helped the cause with a victory in the 880 and a second in the mile.

Jerry Pondella remained undefeated in the shot put. His winning toss was 46-7 1/2. Hans Rommerswinkle also stayed unbeaten in the mile with a time of 4:46:00. Rommerswinkle finished second in the two-mile race.