Decathletes Ready for a Trial Run : Track and field: Chris Wilcox and John Schwepker are hopeful of earning a berth on Olympic team.

Chris Wilcox and John Schwepker do not always wear their emotions on their sleeve, but it’s easy to read their feelings for the decathlon with one glance at their shoulders.

Branded onto their skin is a “D” that intersects with a “1.” The homemade tattoo was designed--and applied--to symbolize Deca 1, a decathlon club and budding rap group that Wilcox and Schwepker started with two other decathletes.

“When I’m out competing, the brand gives me strength,” Wilcox said. “When I want to give up, it reminds me that I can’t let the guys down. It gives me strength mentally on and off the track. It sounds crazy, but it keeps me going.”

Wilcox and Schwepker, who are ranked among the top 10 decathletes in the United States, are hoping to make their mark at the Olympic Track and Field Trials in New Orleans. Three decathletes will make the Olympic team that will compete in Barcelona, Spain.

The decathlon consists of 10 events contested over two days. The 100 meters, long jump, shotput, high jump and 400 meters make up Day 1. The competition concludes with the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters on Day 2.

Dan O’Brien and Dave Johnson are favored to garner spots on the Olympic team. The decathlon portion of the trials will be held June 25-26.

Wilcox, 24, is ranked sixth in the United States. Schwepker, 26, is ranked eighth. The two athletes, who share a house in San Gabriel with three other roommates, train together at Cal State Los Angeles. Both say they are primed for personal-best performances at New Orleans.

“That third spot is up for grabs,” Wilcox said. “In the decathlon, anything can happen. If I can avoid getting into head games, I should make the team.”

Said Schwepker: “For me to make the team, it’s going to take other guys messing up and me having the best meet of my life. As long as one of us makes it, we’re going to he happy.”

The 6-foot, 190-pound Wilcox went to high school in West Palm Beach, Fla., and attended Long Beach City College before transferring to Cal State L.A. in 1989. He was the NCAA Division II runner-up in the decathlon in 1989 and 1991.

The 6-1, 185-pound Schwepker grew up in St. Charles, Mo., and won the 1988 Division II championship while attending Southeast Missouri State.

The two first met during the 1989 Division II indoor national meet at South Dakota State. Schwepker, looking for a better training environment, moved to California a few months later and moved in with Wilcox. They have been roommates and training partners since.

“Schwep is very self-motivated and organized, he’s like a coach within an athlete,” Wilcox said. “I’m just the opposite. I’m used to waking up, putting on some sweats and spikes and going out and winning. We push each other in different ways and it works.”

Wilcox’s strength is in the running and jumping events. He met the trials qualifying standard of 7,850 points by accumulating 8,032 points at a meet at Azusa Pacific. Schwepker, who is best in the field events, qualified by scoring 7,949 points during a meet at Occidental.

“If I wasn’t getting anything out of this, I wouldn’t have put up with (Wilcox) for three years,” Schwepker said with a laugh. “Not many guys get to train with a 47-second quarter-miler and 25-foot long jumper.

“Some guys wouldn’t like that because they don’t like finishing last in practice. But it makes me better, Chris has made me a better athlete.”

Wilcox and Schwepker have financed their training by working as models and actors in commercials. In January, as the roommates discussed their athletic and music career plans, they decided a symbol of commitment was necessary to keep them focused on their goals. Deca 1 was born.

“Deca 1 is more than a symbol, it’s an atmosphere,” Wilcox said.