Grzesiak third on UW's Decathlon list

Brookfield's David Grzesiak, a former Marquette University High School and current University of Wisconsin athlete, will be participating in the 2012 Track and Field Olympic Trials in the Decathlon on Friday and Saturday.

The former Brookfield resident's 7,832 point-total recorded at the recent Big Ten meet (which broke the previous Big Ten record set by a former Olympian) is ranked in the top 18 US decathletes over the past two seasons.

Already ranked No. 6 all-time for UW in the decathlon, Grzesiak moved himself up to No. 3 on the list with his performance at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

Ten events and four personal-best performances later, the senior tallied 7,832 points to finish third in the multi-event competition.

More importantly, the work of Grzesiak and his teammates kept the Badgers securely atop the team standings in the race for the Big Ten title.

"Absolutely ecstatic," Grzesiak said of the Badgers' day. "That's what I'm excited about, that everyone performed so incredibly well."

Nebraska's Bjorn Barrefors won the decathlon with a total of 7,897 points, while Jack Szmanda of Minnesota finished runner-up with 7,862 points.

"I'm happy with nine performances out of 10," Grzesiak said. "Any time you can say that as a decathlete, it's been a good meet."

But there are many who would say it was more than just "a good meet" for the Brookfield native.

Grzesiak came just short of the Olympic trials 'A' standard of 7,900 points with his performance, yet still likely secured himself a spot in the trials in Eugene, Ore., this summer.

With their decathlon point totals, Barrefors, Szmanda and Grzesiak each broke the facility and Big Ten championships record of 7,829 set by Paul Terek of Michigan State in 2002, the last time UW hosted the meet.