May 2010
Gunnar Nixon is currently 17 and will be a senior this fall at Edmond Santa Fe High School in Edmond Oklahoma. His track and field career is a great story to say the very least. His involvement in track started at Union Schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 7th grade. Although he enjoyed track, his love for the events and focus didn't start developing seriously until during 8th grade. He started out doing sprints and long jumps, then added hurdles. After much coaxing, he finally added high jump, which soon became his favorite event. His 9th grade year was spent mostly competing for the Union High School track team. He qualified for state in 3 events: high jump, 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles. The team won state that year, 2008. In total, Gunnar spent 3 years running track in Tulsa before moving to Edmond to run for the Santa Fe Wolves during the school year and the Eastside Steppers track club during the summer.
His first experience with running at USATF events in the summer came the summer after 8th grade with the Tulsa Spikes. This turned out to be a great experience. He not only excelled during the summer competitions, he got the chance to see some great athletes competing at the national level, especially in the decathlon.
Gunnar's focus on the decathlon gave him the desire to really work hard and to compete in that event at the national level. His first decathlon took place at the USATF Junior Olympics Regional meet in 2008 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His win there advanced him to the national meet in Omaha, Nebraska. Gunnar was competing in the Intermediate Boys age division, ages 15-16. After a grueling 2 days of competition, Gunnar won the national title in the decathlon at age 15, something that had never been done before. After the win, he set his sights on breaking the points record for that age division during the following summer.
His first year of running with the Edmond Santa Fe Wolves was a great experience. The coaching staff there was a perfect fit for Gunnar. By the end of the season, Gunnar had tied or broken several school records, won state in high jump, placed 2nd in the 300 hurdles and 3rd in the 110 hurdles (as a sophomore).
Gunnar's first event in the summer of 2009 would be the Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There, he met and competed against Curtis Beach, who had just broken the national record for decathlon points scored by a high school student. Curtis won the event but Nixon took a very respectable 3rd place. Gunnar competed in several USATF Jr. Olympics series meets in individual events with the Eastside Steppers through the summer before competing in the decathlon again. His 2nd decathlon of the summer would be at the USATF Youth Nationals in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He not only won the decathlon but he also won the individual high jump and 110 hurdles gold medals. Gunnar's 3rd decathlon of the summer of 2009 would be at the USATF Jr. Olympics Regionals meet in Wichita, KS where he also won the gold.
The final decathlon of the summer was at the USATF Jr. Olympics national championship meet in Greensboro, North Carolina. His goal was to beat the national record. Gunnar certainly rose to the occasion and stayed true to his reputation. He broke the national points record for the Intermediate Boys (ages 15-16) division that had been in place since 1998, scoring an impressive 7000 points exactly. What made the event even sweeter that one of the guests on the final day of the decathlon was none other than Dan O'Brien, who Gunnar got the opportunity to meet during the opening ceremony.
That brings us to his junior year and first, the 2010 Indoor season. Gunnar had 2 meets in Oklahoma before heading to Boston, Massachusetts for the Nike Indoor Nationals. He had decided to compete in the pentathlon there, something he'd never tried before. The pentathlon favors several of Gunnar's best events and he did quite well. His high jump was 7' 0.5", which at that time was the best indoor jump in the nation for 2010. Not only did he win the pentathlon gold, he set the best ever score in the pentathlon for a junior and the 2nd best score for any high school student.
After that, it was back to school track for a few more events then off to Arlington Texas to try out for the first ever World Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore in August, 2010. There, Gunnar won both the high jump and the 400 hurdles gold medals. That made him eligible to be considered for selection to the Americas Team for the upcoming event. We will publish more details as soon as we are able about this exciting opportunity for Gunnar!
The following week would take Gunnar to Arcadia, California for a much anticipated and talked about rematch with Kevin Lazas of Brentwood, Tennessee. Kevin had taken 2nd place in Boston in the pentathlon and was known to have some strong throwing events and pole vault to add points for him in the decathlon. The battle was thrilling to say the least. The two both shined in their favored events and Gunnar set several new PR's. As the competition came down to the last event, the 1500, Gunnar was behind...but not by much. Gunnar's strength in the running events pulled him through and he ended up winning the event. The competition, comradery and sportsmanship between the two was incredible. It was a very exciting 2 days! Once again, Gunnar found a new place for his name in the record books. This time, he broke the national record for points scored in the decathlon by a junior and set the #2 mark for points overall.
So, back to school track once again. Last week was the team's Regional meet at Ponca City. Gunnar ran both the 110 and 300 hurdles and did the high jump. He came away with three gold medals, qualifying him for state in all 3 events.
His first experience with running at USATF events in the summer came the summer after 8th grade with the Tulsa Spikes. This turned out to be a great experience. He not only excelled during the summer competitions, he got the chance to see some great athletes competing at the national level, especially in the decathlon.
Gunnar's focus on the decathlon gave him the desire to really work hard and to compete in that event at the national level. His first decathlon took place at the USATF Junior Olympics Regional meet in 2008 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His win there advanced him to the national meet in Omaha, Nebraska. Gunnar was competing in the Intermediate Boys age division, ages 15-16. After a grueling 2 days of competition, Gunnar won the national title in the decathlon at age 15, something that had never been done before. After the win, he set his sights on breaking the points record for that age division during the following summer.
His first year of running with the Edmond Santa Fe Wolves was a great experience. The coaching staff there was a perfect fit for Gunnar. By the end of the season, Gunnar had tied or broken several school records, won state in high jump, placed 2nd in the 300 hurdles and 3rd in the 110 hurdles (as a sophomore).
Gunnar's first event in the summer of 2009 would be the Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There, he met and competed against Curtis Beach, who had just broken the national record for decathlon points scored by a high school student. Curtis won the event but Nixon took a very respectable 3rd place. Gunnar competed in several USATF Jr. Olympics series meets in individual events with the Eastside Steppers through the summer before competing in the decathlon again. His 2nd decathlon of the summer would be at the USATF Youth Nationals in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He not only won the decathlon but he also won the individual high jump and 110 hurdles gold medals. Gunnar's 3rd decathlon of the summer of 2009 would be at the USATF Jr. Olympics Regionals meet in Wichita, KS where he also won the gold.
The final decathlon of the summer was at the USATF Jr. Olympics national championship meet in Greensboro, North Carolina. His goal was to beat the national record. Gunnar certainly rose to the occasion and stayed true to his reputation. He broke the national points record for the Intermediate Boys (ages 15-16) division that had been in place since 1998, scoring an impressive 7000 points exactly. What made the event even sweeter that one of the guests on the final day of the decathlon was none other than Dan O'Brien, who Gunnar got the opportunity to meet during the opening ceremony.
That brings us to his junior year and first, the 2010 Indoor season. Gunnar had 2 meets in Oklahoma before heading to Boston, Massachusetts for the Nike Indoor Nationals. He had decided to compete in the pentathlon there, something he'd never tried before. The pentathlon favors several of Gunnar's best events and he did quite well. His high jump was 7' 0.5", which at that time was the best indoor jump in the nation for 2010. Not only did he win the pentathlon gold, he set the best ever score in the pentathlon for a junior and the 2nd best score for any high school student.
After that, it was back to school track for a few more events then off to Arlington Texas to try out for the first ever World Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore in August, 2010. There, Gunnar won both the high jump and the 400 hurdles gold medals. That made him eligible to be considered for selection to the Americas Team for the upcoming event. We will publish more details as soon as we are able about this exciting opportunity for Gunnar!
The following week would take Gunnar to Arcadia, California for a much anticipated and talked about rematch with Kevin Lazas of Brentwood, Tennessee. Kevin had taken 2nd place in Boston in the pentathlon and was known to have some strong throwing events and pole vault to add points for him in the decathlon. The battle was thrilling to say the least. The two both shined in their favored events and Gunnar set several new PR's. As the competition came down to the last event, the 1500, Gunnar was behind...but not by much. Gunnar's strength in the running events pulled him through and he ended up winning the event. The competition, comradery and sportsmanship between the two was incredible. It was a very exciting 2 days! Once again, Gunnar found a new place for his name in the record books. This time, he broke the national record for points scored in the decathlon by a junior and set the #2 mark for points overall.
So, back to school track once again. Last week was the team's Regional meet at Ponca City. Gunnar ran both the 110 and 300 hurdles and did the high jump. He came away with three gold medals, qualifying him for state in all 3 events.
