Aug. 10, 2009

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- University of Missouri track & field junior Nick Adcock placed fifth overall amongst a field of 14 elite Decathletes this past weekend as part of the Thorpe Cup competition in Marburg, Germany. The competitors at the meet included multiple Olympians and former national champions.

Adcock represented the United States at the Thorpe Cup, a combined events dual meet between the United States and Germany. He consistently had strong marks in each of the 10 events and set a season-best mark in the pole vault and a career-best in the discus. His overall score of 7,646 points is his best of the 2009 season and is just 11 points shy of his personal-record total.

After a solid first day, Adcock moved up the rankings of the international elites with a spectacular showing on day two. He opened the day with one of his strongest events, the 110m Hurdles. Adcock's time of 14.45 was the second-fastest of the competition. His clearance of 4.55m (14-11) in the pole vault was his best of the season. In the discus, his toss of 38.83m (127 -4 ¾) eclipsed his previous career-best mark of 37.42m (122-9 ¼).

"It was an unbelievable competition," said Missouri combined events coach Dan Lefever, who accompanied Adcock on the trip. "The town really supported the meet and there were a couple hundred people there to watch the excitement. It was a great atmosphere for Nick and we couldn't have asked for more from him."

The Thorpe Cup is known as the most important nation vs. nation team decathlon. The United States won the overall team competition with a score of 39,462 points to Germany's 35,927 points. Three Olympian and multiple-time USA National Champion Tom Pappas (Nike) won this year's individual competition with a meet-record score of 8,569 points.

1. Tom Pappas: 8,569 points (Three-Time Olympian, Seven-Time USA National Champion and 2003 World Indoor /Outdoor Champion)
2. Joe Detmer: 7,892 points (third at 2009 USA Indoor Championships)
3. Jan-Felix Knobel: 7,758 points (2009 World Junior Champion)
4. Paul Terek: 7,729 points (Three-Time USA National Indoor Champion)
5. Nick Adcock: 7,646 (Three-Time All American and 2007 Junior National Champ)

Link to Full Results
http://www.zehnkampfteam.de/upload/Ergebniss/2009/Thorpe_Cup_2009.htm

Link to Photo Gallery from Meet
http://www.zehnkampfteam.de/upload/bildergalerie/2009/ThorpeCup2009_Empfang_Tag1/index.html