“First, I want to eat a big steak,” he said. “Then, I have to study.”
Duvio became the first Stanford men’s pole vaulter other than 1998 champion Toby Stevenson to place among the top three at nationals since 1934. Still, that didn’t get him off the hook for his media psychology final that he’ll take in a hotel conference room Thursday morning.
Duvio jumped 18-0 ½ on his first try to give Stanford its first points in the four-day meet at University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. More could come soon when freshman Harrison Williams completes the decathlon.
After the first five events of the 10-event competition, Williams, who at 18 is the youngest competitor in the 24-man field, is in sixth place. Like Duvio, he’s in line for first-team All-America honors by maintaining a top-eight finish.
Williams has 4,057 points, just 11 behind his first-day total at the Pac-12 Championships last month, when he scored 7,679 to break Stanford’s oldest school record, the 1952 mark set by Bob Mathias while winning gold at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games.
Williams believes he can improve upon that record because at the Pac-12’s, he struggled in one of his strongest events, the pole vault. Such a repeat seems unlikely.
“Harrison’s staying confident and composed when a lot of other guys who are really good are not,” said Michael Eskind, Stanford's pole vault, multis, and jumps coach. “To ask a freshman to come out and do that is pretty special. There’s no reason he can’t compete with every single guy in this field.”
Williams set three personal bests: 22-10 ¾ in the long jump (aided by a 2.3 meters per second wind), 43-7 ¼ in the shot put, and 47.16 while running the fastest race of the day in the 400 meters. His shot put was an improvement by 21 inches and his 400 crushed his previous best by 0.83.
The 400 was the next event after the high jump, where Williams managed only a subpar 6-2 ¾.
“I was pretty ticked,” Williams said. “I wanted to get two meters (6-6 ¾), and I got 1.90. I was mad and tried to put everything I could into the 400. I knew I could PR, maybe run 47.6, but I had no idea I could run 47.16.”
Does he like where he is right now?
“Definitely,” he said.
Like Williams, success did not come easily for Duvio. He missed on his first tries at 16-10 ¾, 17-4 ½, and 17-8 ½. But, in each case, he rebounded by making his next attempts at each. And, with a 24-jumper field, the completion tested his endurance. He began warming up at 2:30 p.m. and didn’t finish jumping until 6:30.
But Duvio can be a grinder if necessary.
“Today wasn’t the best he ever looked, but he competed really well and was in it in every bar,” Eskind said.
Duvio arrived last season as a top recruit from Louisiana with a best of 17-3 ½ and Pan Am junior title. He improved to 17-6 ½ and reached the NCAA’s as a freshman, though he did make the final. This year, a rough start to the outdoor season changed when he summoned an 18-1 ½ -- a full foot higher than his season best – to win the Longhorn Invitational on May 2. It was a seven-inch improvement over his previous personal best.
“He’s had to learn a new language – training and cues are a new language, different than what he came in high school,” Eskind said. “He’s had to change slightly in how to run, and carry a pole, and learn takeoff angles. He has a whole year now where we’re fluent in each other’s language. We click really well, we’re on the same page 99 percent of the time. And we’re starting to see him reap the rewards of that now.
“With three more years to go (including a fifth-year indoors), who knows what he can do.”
His first-try clearance at 18-0 ½ enabled Duvio to leap from ninth to third, behind only heavy favorite Shawn Barber of Akron and Memphis’ Pauls Pujats, a longshot who improved his season-best by eight inches. Left behind was 19-footer Lance Blankenship of Tennessee and other accomplished vaulters. Even Barber needed a third try to make his opening height of 17-8 ½.
Duvio failed twice at 18-2 ½ and passed for a final try at 18-4 ½, which would have equaled the winning jump of Akron’s Shawn Barber, but Duvio was unsuccessful.
“I’m a lot stronger, I’m a little bit heavier, more muscle than I was last year,” Duvio said. “I’m a lot faster down the runway, I’m on bigger poles, and it’s really just the training with Eskind. That’s helped more than anything. He really pushes me through everything, every meet that we go to.”
The thoughts of a night of studying seemed far off as Duvio awaited the awards ceremony. He’ll compete at the U.S. Championships on June 25-28 at the same field.
“I’m super excited,” Duvio said. “I just want to keep it going.”
NCAA Championships
At Hayward Field
First day of four
Results of events with Stanford competitors:
Men
Team scores: 1, Oregon 34; 2, Florida 16; 3, USC 15; 4 (tie), Akron, Buffalo, 10; 13, Stanford 6.
Pole vault
1, Shawn Barber (Akron) 18-4 ½ (5.60m); 2, Pauls Pujats (Memphis) 18-2 ½; 3, Dylan Duvio (Stanford) 18-2 ½ (5.55m).
Decathlon
First-day leaders: 1, Pau Tonneson (Arizona) 4,230 points; 2, Maicel Uibo (Georgia) 4,209; 3, Scott Filip (Rice) 4,176; 4, Stephen Soerens (Princeton) 4,091; 5, Dakotah Keys (Oregon) 4,072; 6, Harrison Williams (Stanford) 4,057.
Williams’ results (place in event, mark, points):
100 – 3, 10.83 (899); Long jump – 16, 22-10 ¾w (6.98m) (809); Shot put – 8, 43-7 ¼ (13.29m) (685); High jump – 11, 6-2 ¾ (1.90m) (714); 400 – 1, 47.16 (950). First-day total: 4,057.
Women
Finals begin Thursday
* * *
Stanford's Remaining Schedule:
Thursday
10 a.m.: Men’s decathlon 110 hurdles (Harrison Williams)
11 a.m.: Men’s decathlon discus (Harrison Williams)
1 p.m.: Men’s decathlon pole vault (Harrison Williams)
3:15 p.m.: Men’s decathlon javelin (Harrison Williams)
4:14 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 semifinals (Elise Cranny)
5:30 p.m.: Women’s javelin final (Victoria Smith)
5:44 p.m.: Women’s 800 semifinals (Olivia Baker, Claudia Saunders)
6:28 p.m.: Men’s decathlon 1,500 (Harrison Williams)
7:18 p.m.: Women’s 4x400 relay (Pool: Olivia Baker, Gaby Gayles, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson, Claudia Saunders, Kristyn Williams)
Friday
6:30 p.m.: Men’s 5,000 final (Sean McGorty, Erik Olson)
Saturday
1:35 p.m.: Women’s discus final (Valarie Allman)
2:15 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 final (Elise Cranny)
3:20 p.m.: Women’s 800 final (Olivia Baker, Claudia Saunders)
4 p.m.: Women’s 5,000 final (Vanessa Fraser, Jessica Tonn)
4:20 p.m.: Women’s 4x400 relay final (Pool: Olivia Baker, Gaby Gayles, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson, Claudia Saunders, Kristyn Williams)
