Matt Chisam (ex-SF), Oly Trials - 2008
Matt Chisam (ex-St Francis) competed in the decathlon at the Olympic Trials this past Sunday and Monday. He went in ranked 19th and finished 15th overall. He struggled a bit his first day, but came back on day two and had a much better 2nd day. He was 2nd in the PV at 16'8 only beaten by Tom Pappas, and finished in the top 7 in the Discus, Javelin and 1500. He beat the eventual winner, Bryan Clay in the PV and 1500. His marks in the event were: 11.45 100M, 20'5 LJ, 45'1 SP, 6'4 HJ, 52.10 400m; 14.88 100H, 143'7 Disc, 16'8 PV and 4:46.56 1500 M= 7429 total points. This was a little off his personal best of 7694 set in June in Dallas, Texas. It was averaging 88 degrees, and the smoke from California followed us up there. Bryan Clay set an Olympic Trials record with a total of 8832, just missing Dan O'Brien's 8891. It was the most depth ever shown in a decathlon held in the United States with 7 athletes scoring over 8000 points in one competition. The three decathletes that will be representing the US in Bejing will be Bryan Clay (8832), Trey Hardee (8534) and Tom Pappas (8511). This will be Clay's 2nd Olympic team and Pappas' 3rd time representing the US Olympic Squad.