Alex Franco
Sports Editor
A record that has withstood seven years of trial and error is no more. CSUSM Junior Maurice Strickland from San Diego, has become the school’s “greatest athlete,” a title that has traditionally been given to decathlon winners since King Gustav V bestowed the honor upon Jim Thorpe, the world’s first Olympic Decathlon Champion in 1912.
Strickland broke Aaron Parker’s former school record by a staggering 550 points, with a total of 6,557 points in decathelon’s 10 disciplines last Thursday afternoon at the always competitive Mt. Sac Relays. Strickland reflects on his performance and what the accomplishment means to him and his legacy.
Question: Was breaking the record a goal of yours coming into the season?
Answer: My main focus coming into the season was to better myself and to keep improving in each event. In the decathlon, I have some weaker events and I just wanted to train hard in those. The record was in the back of my mind and I knew if I trained hard I could beat it.
Q: What does it mean to you to have a record like this, in such a tough event like the decathlon?
A: It really means a lot. It is a symbol of all my hard work and long weeks of practice. It will be nice to know that even when I am no longer a student here, I have left my mark.
Q: What was it that drew you to run the decathlon instead of a single event?
A: I have always felt that one event was not enough. I started in high school in the pole vault and hurdles, then as my career progressed, I became infatuated with the idea of being able to do all types of events. I always liked the idea of being a well-rounded person and I guess that same idea applied to track. After two long days and feeling like I can’t stand anymore it feels amazing to think about what I just accomplished.
Q: After breaking such an impressive record, where do you look to go from here? How will you keep yourself hungry/motivated for more?
A: Staying motivated is easy for me; there is always room for improvement and I am never satisfied. I constantly set new goals for myself and one of my new goals is to be the national champion in the decathlon. That would be the cherry on top of an already amazing season.
Although there may be no king or queen in San Marcos to declare him the “world’s greatest athlete,” there is an entire campus of almost 10,000 to revere in the astounding feat Strickland pulled off.
Records were meant to be broken, but Maurice Strickland showed that some were meant to be destroyed.
