WAVERLY, IA – Johns Hopkins junior Andrew Bartnett could have kept going and completed one of the great careers in Blue Jay Track and Field history next year by simply doing what he had done for his first two years. After all, Bartnett had eased into NCAA Championship competition with a 10th-place finish in the Pole Vault at the indoor championships as a freshman before adding a pair of national runner-up finishes and a third-place showing in his next three trips to the NCAAs (indoor and outdoor combined).

But athletes like Bartnett don’t get to that level by taking the easy way out or settling. So Bartnett decided the time was right to pick up a new event – or nine as the case would be. Yup, Bartnett decided the Decathlon was the way to go.

Competing in just his third Decathlon, Bartnett nearly pulled off a stunning rally at the NCAA Division III Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the competition that is equal parts mental and physical and all parts grueling.

Lets get this straight just so there is no confusion. On April 14-15 of this year, Bartnett competed in his first Decathlon. Six weeks later, he finished as the national runner-up with 6,767 points – just 42 less than champion Ethen Schoen of Wisconsin-Stout.

Sitting in sixth place after Thursday’s first day of competition, Bartnett slipped back to 11th place after the first two events on Friday. He nabbed 696 points in the 110-meter hurdles, but just 485 in the discus.

As it turned out, Bartnett had an ace up his sleeve – the eighth event in the Decathlon is the Pole Vault. You know, the same Pole Vault that he has five top-three finishes at NCAA Championships to his credit.

Passing on every height until all but two of the other 18 competitors had been eliminated, Bartnett easily cleared 4.5 meters, passed his way to 4.8 meters after the last competitor was out and then kept going – all the way to 5.2 meters. When the scoring was settled, Bartnett grabbed 972 points in the Pole Vault, 182 more than anyone else and he jumped from 11th to second place with two events remaining. The 972 points were the most by any individual in any of the 10 events in the competition. 

While neither of the final two events is Bartnett’s specialty, he kept the pressure on Schoen through event nine by grabbing 458 points in the Javelin (to Schoen’s 495). One event left – the 1,500-meter run – and down by 104 points, Bartnett did what you’d expect; he went for it.

In the end, Bartnett beat Schoen by just over 10 seconds and grabbed 647 points to run his 10-event total to the 6,767 that would leave him just 42 points shy of the top spot on the podium.

Bartnett’s runner-up finish landed eight points for Johns Hopkins the team standings and pushes the Blue Jays’ total to 14 entering Saturday’s final day of competition. Johns Hopkins is currently tied for fourth place in the team standings with those 14 points, which have come courtesy of Bartnett’s third-place finish in the Pole Vault and second-place finish in the Decathlon.