Bastien Finishes 12th in Decathlon at U.S. Olympic Trials
7/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
July 3, 2016
» Bastien becomes the first U.S. Olympic Trials competitor for the Wolverines under head coach Jerry Clayton, who has coached more than 25 athletes to Olympic Trials qualifying in his career.
» Bastien competed at the U.S. Trials 32 years after his father, Gary, with whom he shares the all-time combined U.S. father-son decathlon record, competed (1984).
» Personal-best marks in the 110-meter hurdles, long jump and discus bolstered Bastien's scoring efforts, helping him reach his two-day total of 7,599 points
EUGENE, Ore. -- University of Michigan rising fifth-year senior Steven Bastien returned to the site of his All-America performance from last month's NCAA Championships to compete this weekend (July 2-3) in the U.S. Olympic Trials at Historic Hayward Field. Bastien placed 12th overall aided by lifetime bests in three field events and soaked up a wealth of experience competing at the highest level.
Lining up alongside the best in the nation, highlighted by defending Olympic gold medalist Ashton Eaton, Bastien also saw some familiar competition as well. He was one of seven athletes competing at the trials who were also in Eugene last month for the NCAA Championships (June 8-9), joining Wisconsin's Zach Ziemek, Georgia's Devon Williams and Devon Scantling, Oregon's Mitch Modin, Stanford's Harrison Williams and Eastern Michigan's Solomon Simmons.
The highlights of the weekend for Bastien came in the long jump and in a couple of successful throwing events in which he performed particularly well. He overcame a cramp that set in just before the pole vault began, ultimately pushing through the discomfort to complete the final several events. The competing field was truly elite, featuring four scorers over 8,000 points and five over the 7,900-point mark that it took to get to the trials. The top three finishers and newly appointed members of Team USA are Eaton (8,750 points), Jeremy Taiwo (8,425 points) and Ziemek (8,413 points).
Bastien came in just three points shy of his PR at the end of day one and carried his positive momentum in to the second day of action with quality performances spread throughout the day. He was certainly on pace to set a new personal-best total, and could have broken the 8,000-point barrier as well, if not for the cramping.
On Saturday, Bastien ran 10.70 in the top heat of the 100-meter dash to begin the weekend, .08 seconds shy of his PR, to rack up 929 points early. After two fouls, he burst into a new personal best in the long jump on his third attempt at 7.65 meters (25-1.25 ft.), and measured a throw of 12.33 meters (40-5.5 ft.) in the shot put.
He then finished seventh in the high jump, picking up 776 points after clearing the third bar of his progression at 1.97 meters (6-5.5 ft.) and closed Saturday with the 400-meter dash. Bastien clocked 49.15 in that event for second place in his heat by .07 seconds, adding 854 more points to his total to arrive at a day-one score of 4,159 points.
Bastien had a strong start to the second day of events on Sunday, beginning with the 110-meter hurdles and a 14.83 PR to win the second heat handily and earn 870 points. Next in the discus, Bastien registered two throws over 40 meters and eclipsed his PR in the event by more than five feet when he measured his second attempt at 42.58 meters (139-8 ft.), adding 717 points to his total.
In the pole vault, Bastien cleared 4.65 meters (15-3 ft.), and he later launched a 48.83-meter (160-2.5 ft.) throw in the javelin, a season best of more than 20 feet.
Closing the weekend with the 1,500-meter run, Bastien took an easier pace and ran 5:14.77 to wrap the meet in 12th place overall with 7,599 points. After breaking and re-breaking the Michigan decathlon record in all three competitions he suited up for in 2016, this marks the close of a tremendous season for Bastien. He has improved his PR (7,917 points) by more than 500 points in the months of this outdoor season under the guidance of head coach Jerry Clayton.
The Olympic Trials continue until July 10, with three more male athletes with Michigan ties competing in the coming week. The first athlete to toe the line will be recent graduate Mason Ferlic, who will run along with alum Craig Forys in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the same track where he won his NCAA championship last month (June 12). The first round of Ferlic's and Forys' race will be Monday (July 4) at 7:30 p.m. PDT.
Personal Bests
Long Jump -- 7.65 meters (25-1.25 ft.)
Discus -- 42.58 meters (139-8 ft.)
110-meter hurdles-- 14.83
Decathlon finishers hit the water. Congrats to Ashton, Jeremy, and Zach! #USATF #TeamUSA #TrackTown16 @AshtonJEaton pic.twitter.com/fnSFqz242Z
-- Dan O'Brien (@DanOBrien) July 4, 2016
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
