Bates junior Brendan Donahue took third place in the decathlon Saturday at all-divisions Open New England Championships, posting a personal-record score for the second straight week and likely securing an invitation to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in two weeks.
Donahue (Wolfeboro Falls, N.H.) scored 6,458 points in all, 157 more than the the personal-record total of 6,301 he scored one week ago to capture the New England Division III title. Donahue entered the weekend ranked 18th in Division III in the decathlon, and might not have competed in the event this week had his place at NCAAs been more secure. His Open New Englands score would place him 12th in the national rankings entering the weekend. Twenty male athletes per individual event are selected for NCAAs.
Donahue stood in eighth place after the first day, but moved up to third place by the end, outscoring the field of 10 other decathletes in three of the five events on the day: the 110-meter hurdles (15.60 seconds, his personal record), the discus throw (130-11, also a PR) and the javelin throw (157-8). Donahue was first in the decathlon in all three throwing events (javelin, discus, shot put).
"Brendan was fantastic this weekend, coming back two weeks in a row in the decathlon and still PR'ing by 157 points to secure a trip to nationals," said head coach Al Fereshetian.
