UC Irvine’s Farmer Wins Final Event to Take Decathlon

Matt Farmer came through with a victory in the final event, the 1,500-meter run, to win the decathlon as the 17th annual U.S. Junior Track and Field Championships continued Friday.

Farmer, who recently finished his freshman year at UC Irvine, led Phillipe Williams by 195 points at the end of the first five events Thursday, setting a meet record with 3,836 points in the opening day.

But Williams, of the University of South Carolina, was within 21 points of the lead after nine events. Farmer defeated Williams by just under seven seconds in the 1,500 to take the win.

Both Farmer and Williams qualified for the World Junior Championships, to be held July 26-31 at Sudbury, Canada.