Good health leads Wichita State decathlete Hunter Veith to new reality
Hunter Veith went to Wichita State track coach Steve Rainbolt’s office in March expecting to talk about the training and scheduling for the outdoor season.
Rainbolt wanted to discuss bigger things, things that hadn’t occurred to Veith, even as his decathlon performances improved during his junior season. Things that certainly hadn’t occurred to him when he came to Wichita State from Cheney High as a triple jumper.
“I think he can be one of our country’s next big-time decathlon men,” Rainbolt said. “You go through the decathlon events and you don’t come to a major weakness.”
Veith’s main career goals were to stay healthy after a broken leg and elbow surgery derailed previous seasons at WSU. Post-collegiate plans and international competition did not register, until that day.
“It was a surprising conversation,” he said. “It wasn’t something I had ever dreamed of. The level I’m at now is all I ever dreamed of.”
Wichita State starts the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor championships Friday at Cessna Stadium as the favorite to repeat as men’s and women’s champions.
Veith will compete in the pole vault, triple jump, javelin, high jump and long jump, perhaps a relay, in an attempt to maximize his point-scoring potential and leave the decathlon to teammates. He won last year’s MVC decathlon with 6,998 points.
His total of 7,610 points in the decathlon ranks ninth nationally and is a sure thing to qualify for the NCAA West preliminaries later this month in Austin. This weekend is pointed toward the team goals and Veith’s versatility can make a big difference.
He ranks third in the MVC in the long jump (24 feet, 9 1/4 inches), fourth in the javelin (181-6), ninth in the 400 (48.83 seconds) and ninth in the pole vault (15-5).
“It’s kind of relaxing, honestly,” he said. “I get to do the events I’m better at. No matter how much you love the decathlon, the 1,500 and the 400 are brutal.”
On Monday, Veith’s focus returns to the decathlon and qualifying for the NCAA championships in June in Eugene, Ore.
He finished ninth in the heptathlon with 5,760 points in March in the NCAA indoor championships. That performance convinced Rainbolt that Veith could follow the path of former Shocker Austin Bahner and compete for spots on U.S. national teams and in international meets.
Rainbolt sees 8,000 points as a realistic goal for Veith. Bahner holds the school record with 7,847. Veith totaled a personal-best 7,610 points while winning the Sam Adams Multi-Events in early April in Santa Barbara, Calif. Both Rainbolt and Veith say that performance wasn’t close to a peak effort.
“In the 100, he’s getting legitimately fast,” Rainbolt. “He’s an NCAA qualifier in the open long jump. High jump, the guy has the potential to be a 7-foot high jumper. Pole vault — he’s gone 16 feet, 9 inches.”
Veith points to long-awaited good health for his breakout 2017.
“I got one heck of a fall training compared to the usual,” Veith said. “That’s made a world of difference.”
As a freshman, he broke his left leg landing while running hurdles. A year later, he needed ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery on his right elbow, an injury he says is common for javelin throwers.
“Finally, this is healthy,” he said. “This is year No. 1 of healthy.”
Paul Suellentrop: 316-269-6760, @paulsuellentrop
MVC outdoor championships
Cessna Stadium
Friday
10 a.m — Multi-events
Noon — Field events
6 p.m. — Running events
Saturday
10:30 a.m — Multi-events
3 p.m. — Field events
5 p.m. — Running events
Sunday
11:30 a.m. — Field events
1 p.m. — Running events
4:20 p.m. — Awards
MVC events to watch
▪ Wichita State senior Nikki Larch-Miller enters the weekend with 146 points in three previous MVC meets, third on the school’s career list. Audacia Moore (2009-12) holds the WSU record with 182.
Larch-Miller is tied for second in the MVC in the 100 meters (11.58 seconds) and ranks second in the 100-meter hurdles (13.35). She is also part of WSU’s top-ranked 400- and 1,600 relay teams.
▪ Indiana State senior Alethia Marrero leads the MVC in the 800 (2:06.33) and the 400 hurdles (59.50). Teammate Brooke Moore ranks second in the 800 (2:06.74). Moore also leads the MVC in the 1,500 (4:20.02). WSU’s Rebekah Topham is second at 4:25.63.
▪ In the 200, Southern Illinois’ Tyjuana Eason leads the Valley with a time of 23.7 seconds, just ahead of WSU’s Taylor Larch-Miller at 23.79.
▪ Northern Iowa’s Brandon Carnes leads the MVC and ranks seventh nationally with a time of 10.06 in the men’s 100 meters. WSU’s Mike Wells is second at 10.37.
▪ Southern Illinois’ Kyle Landon, a five-time All-American, ranks eighth nationally in the high jump (7 feet, 2 1/2 inches) to lead the MVC. He finished eighth in the NCAA Outdoor last year and second in the U.S. Olympic Trials at 7-5.
In the MVC, freshman Anthony McRoberts of Illinois State and WSU junior Austin Chippeaux are next at 7-3/4.
▪ Drake’s Reed Fischer ranks No. 22 nationally in the 5,000 (13 minutes, 48.32 seconds) and No. 15 in the 10,000 (28:47.86).
▪ SIU junior Jared Kern won the NCAA shot put title last spring with a throw of 67-2. He ranks eighth nationally this spring with a best of 64-5 3/4.
— Paul Suellentrop
This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Good health leads Wichita State decathlete Hunter Veith to new reality."