Two days, 10 events

With the top two point totals in the Big Sky so far this season, decathletes sophomore Nick Trubachik and junior Vince Kinney are Portland State’s own version of “Dan and Dave.”

Some readers may remember the humorous shoe commercials that featured Dan O’Brien and Dave Johnson in the months leading up to the 1992 Olympics. Dan and Dave were supposed to be America’s dynamic duo, and many expected them to bring home the gold and silver in the decathlon that summer.

Trubachik and Kinney find themselves in a similar situation this spring in the Big Sky. Last week at the LSU Tiger Invitational in Baton Rouge, La., both Trubachik and Kinney set new personal bests in the two-day, 10-event competition, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.

“The competition drove me to be better,” Kinney said. “I always try my best to beat other people, but things were really clicking. It was really fun.”

A product of Lynnwood, Wash., Kinney finished fourth or higher in five of the 10 decathlon events, including a first-place effort in the last, and perhaps most grueling, event of the competition, the 1,500 meter.

“It’s my least favorite event,” Kinney said. “The 1,500 is the last event and the longest, and it takes a lot of heart to finish.”

Kinney’s winning time of 4:34.52 was nearly eight seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Trubachik, who echoed Kinney’s thoughts on the 1,500.

“Everybody dreads the 1,500,” said Trubachik, who also played soccer and basketball at Estacada High School.

Trubachik’s point total of 6,824 was good enough for third all-time in school history and is only 76 points shy of the NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 6,900. His toss of 198’08” in the javelin won the event as well as qualifying him to compete for a Big Sky championship in the event next month.

Overall, Trubachik finished third or higher in four events, but still saw room for improvement.

“I did pretty poor in the discus,” Trubachik said. “If I can improve there, maybe I can pull off a ‘B’ qualification for the [U.S. Olympic] trials, but mainly I’m shooting for nationals and winning the Big Sky.”

Both Trubachik and Kinney started training for the decathlon in high school and have been able to push each other to get better in their time at Portland State.

“Training with Nick is great,” Kinney said. “My freshmen year I didn’t have much to train with, so it’s nice to have someone at the same competition level driving me to get better.”

The Big Sky Championships are still about a month away, and the NCAA Championships do not take place until June, so “Nick and Vince,” like “Dan and Dave,” have time to continue pushing each other to new levels.

“I want to improve to be one of the better competitors in the country,” Kinney said.

In focus: Decathlon

An event-by-event look at the decathlon world-record holders

100-meter Asafa Powell, Jamaica 9.77 seconds

Long jumpMike Powell, United States8.95 meters

Shot putRandy Barnes, United States23.12 meters

High jumpJavier Sotomayor, Cuba2.45 meters

400-meterMichael Johnson, United States43.18

110-meter hurdles Colin Jackson, United States12.91 seconds

Discus throwJürgen Schult, Germany74.08 meters

Pole vault Sergey Bubka, Ukraine 6.15 meters

Javelin throwJan Zelezny, Czech Republic 98.48 meters

1500-meterHicham El Guerrouj, Morocco 3.26.00