Pacific 10 Track and Field Championships : Erickson of Washington Wins the Decathlon

Washington’s Steve Erickson won the Pacific 10 decathlon championship Thursday night with 8,063 points.

USC’s Mike Gonzales took the final event, the 1,500 meters, in 4:35.74 to finish second with 7,479 points, just ahead of Washington State’s Carlos Gambetta, who had 7,403.

Erickson set a conference meet second-day point-total record of 4,001, breaking the old mark of 3,765 set in 1981 by Mark Anderson of UCLA. He also set a Washington school record.

Erickson came into the final five events in second place, 53 points behind Wednesday’s first-round leader, Gambetta, but he quickly shot into the lead for good.

Erickson, a senior from Bellevue, Wash., won the 110-meter high hurdles in a time of 14.96 seconds to go ahead by 116 points as Gambetta came in last in the field of eight with a time of 16.43.

He added to his margin by winning the discus with a throw of 148 feet 2 inches, 16 feet better than Gambetta’s best toss, and padded that margin by taking the pole vault at 15 feet 9 inches.

Erickson also finished second in the javelin and third in the 1,500 Thursday night. On Wednesday, he won the shotput, finished second in the 400-meter dash and was third in both the 100 meters and high jump. His worst finish was a fourth in the long jump.