Historic Senior Boys’ Decathlon
Nate Paris and Aiden Turner battle it out in Langley ahead of BC Champs
This past weekend in Langley, Nanaimo District’s Nate Paris bested the current decathlon U18 BC record holder Aiden Turner in what might have been the most competitive senior boys’ decathlon in BC high school track and field history. Paris’ combined score of 7036 across the 10 events is the highest mark since BC high school track and field standout Nick Wilkes’ 6635 in 1997. Historically, a mark anywhere above 5800, over the last decade or so, is strong enough to produce a victory in the event. This ought to put into perspective the outstanding achievement that not only Nate Paris produced, but South Delta’s Aiden Turner as well. Turner’s score of 6817 would have placed him first in every one of the last 20 years of the decathlon in BC.
Across the 10 events, both Paris and Turner performed outstandingly, with several marks that are simply unprecedented in their quality. It should be noted that these incredible performances were produced in suboptimal conditions; it rained and poured all weekend while Paris and Turner went back and forth. Perhaps most impressive out of all of the events were the two’s marks in the 100m. Turner ran a blistering 10.8. To break 11 seconds as a sprinter in BC is uncommon, to say the least. Typically Turner’s 10.8 would be strong enough to win the Senior Boys’ 100m in the BC High School Championships the next weekend. All of this to say, when Paris crossed the line in 10.5, an entire three one-hundredths ahead of Turner, it became clear that Paris’ performance would go down in history as one of the all-time great BC high school performances.
Paris and Turner placed first or second in 9 of the 10 disciplines, with Paris making up major ground in the high jump and the 110-metre hurdles. Turner’s pole vault of 4.81m produced a score of over 300 points more than Paris’ mark, keeping the competition close. The two now look to the BC High School Track and field championships where each is set to compete for individual championships in their respective events.
