Nick Trubachik is a locomotive showing no signs of slowing down.
After dominating the decathlon at the conference level in May, Trubachik competed in the NCAA Track and Field Championships and qualified for the U.S. Championships, where his performance earned him a place on the U.S. National Team.
The recent Portland State graduate took home the gold in the decathlon at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May with 7,390 points—more than 500 points above his nearest competitor. That first-place finish earned him a slot in the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene on June 10-11.
The nationals drew a crowd of nearly 12,000 spectators, a Hayward Field record, and inspired Trubachik to complete his Viking career by setting a pair of records for himself. His javelin throw of 204 feet, 11 inches marked a personal best and second in the meet. He followed that with a personal best of 4 minutes and 40.92 seconds in the 1,500-meter race.
Trubachik finished in seventh place in Eugene with 7,510 points, enough to send him to the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 23–27.
His participation alone in Eugene was groundbreaking. Trubachik was the first male athlete from PSU to compete at the national level since the school moved up to the Division-I level in 1997. The All-American decathlete finished his tenure as a Viking with three school records, two gold medals and four Big Sky Championships on his résumé.
“He knew he was going to be contributing to the legacy, not only to himself but to Portland State,” said his former coach Ronnye Harrison in a press release. “He knows that, and he did it in fine fashion.”
In Des Moines, Trubachik placed eighth at the U.S. Championships and finished with 7,485 points after entering his second day of competition in 10th place. A top-five finish in four events was the push he needed to earn a slot on the national team. Trubachik will compete with the team in Marburg, Germany, where the U.S. will challenge Germany in the Thorpe Cup, a multi-event competition held in August.
He placed third in the javelin throw in Des Moines, throwing for 192 feet, 10 inches. He also narrowly topped the personal record he set two weeks prior, finishing the 1,500m at 4:40.31.
Trubachik said that though he exhausted his collegiate eligibility, he will continue competing through next year.
“I’ve always been an energetic person and I could get that energy out. I could hang out with my friends and work to my next goal,” he said in a statement released by the school. He later told The Oregonian, “I’m going to take two weeks off and get right back to it.”