The five decathletes from the 2022 Central College men’s track and field squad were recognized as one of the top-20 scoring units regardless of size in the Webb Cup standings produced by The Decathlon Association’s DECA Newsletter earlier this month.

Started in 2013, the Webb Cup was initiated as an attempt to recognize colleges and universities for both decathlon quality and quantity. Points are awarded for the national ordinal placing of two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight-man teams. Scores needs not be made in the same meet, just in the same season.

Central earned two points according to the official scoring rubric. The top program, the University of Arkansas, had 20 points. Central and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are the only NCAA Division III programs to make the top 20.

The five decathletes for Central combined for a total of 30,963 points, the fourth-best total of any program with five athletes. Wis.-Eau Claire had the most with 33,637 points. Division I programs Samford University (Ga.), Dartmouth College (N.H.) and the Naval Academy (Md.) were also in the top five.

Central’s top-four decathletes all qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Brody Klein (junior, Rainier, Wash.) had Central’s top score in 2022 with 6,413 points. Lucas Heitz (senior, Adel, ADM HS) was second with 6,370 points, Reid Pakkebier (sophomore, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) was third with 6,294 points and Jaxon Thompson (junior, Marion, Linn-Mar HS) was fourth 6,259 points. Nick Thompson (grad, Newhall, Benton HS) was fifth with 5,453 points.

The 2023 indoor track and field season continues on January 13 at the Dutch Early Bird Pentathlon in Pella.