It’s probably safe to say that Santiago Lorenzo now has a legitimate excuse for his recent absences from school — and he has something to show for it, too.
Needing to essentially win the final event of the decathlon, the 1,500 meters, at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field, Lorenzo essentially did just that Thursday evening, earning himself a nice trophy to present to his professors.
“I definitely have to catch up in school,” Lorenzo said after scoring 7,889 points to win the first NCAA decathlon title in school history. “I hope my professors will understand.”
Lorenzo’s win was the second national championship in the first two days of competition for the Ducks, who are in first place with 27 points after junior Billy Pappas placed eighth in the decathlon. Redshirt sophomore John Stiegeler won the javelin title Wednesday with a school-record throw of 252 feet, 10 inches, while redshirt freshman Jason Hartmann placed third in the 10,000 meters.
“I’m so excited and so happy for the team,” said Pappas, who scored a personal-best 7,488 points, but was somewhat disappointed with his eighth-place finish. “Santiago definitely wanted it more than me. But it makes me feel better that he won.”
Due in large part to a hamstring injury to decathlon favorite Claston Bernard of Louisiana State, Lorenzo was in third place after nine events heading into the 1,500 meters. He trailed Georgia’s David Leman by 70 points and Tennessee’s Stephen Harris by just nine points.
To win the decathlon, Lorenzo had to beat Leman to the finish line by about 10 seconds and Harris by two seconds.
The junior from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who was fifth in the NCAA Championships with 7,543 points last year, finished the 1,500 in 4:21.84 — an eight-second personal best — four seconds ahead of Harris and nearly 27 seconds in front of Leman.
“I knew I had to have a huge run,” Lorenzo said of scoring 799 points in the final event. “I was just feeling great … it couldn’t have been any better. This is the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life.”
Harris, the decathlon leader after day one, said he was not disappointed with second place.

“I gave it my all, and I had a lot of fun,” said the Tennessee sophomore, who finished 18 points behind Lorenzo. “Santiago is a great athlete … He deserves a lot of credit.”
A sleepless night haunted Lorenzo after the first day of competition, even though he put on a good showing during the first day, finishing second with 3,991 points.
“I was just excited to get back out there,” he said.
Both Lorenzo and Pappas put on their best suits in front of 4,575 fans Thursday, each scoring personal bests in total points. Pappas set PRs in the discus, pole vault and the 110-meter hurdles to finish nine points behind North Carolina’s Michael Cvelbar, who was sixth.
“I would have been a lot happier with sixth,” Pappas said. “But that just makes me a lot hungrier for next year.”
Lorenzo’s 7,889 points were a personal best by 163 points, but just the fourth-best total in the Oregon record books.
“It really helped to have someone out there with me,” Pappas said of his first NCAA meet. “The crowd was really supportive, which makes you really happy and excited inside. It was like I had no limits.”
Overall, Lorenzo won just one of the 10 events, the 400 meters with a time of 48.27 seconds.