| Senior Brandon Buteaux scored a personal-best 7,342 points. |
AUSTIN — Senior All-American Brandon Buteaux made the most out of his first decathlon in nearly two years, as he won the 80th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays title on Thursday with an NCAA provisional qualifying 7,342 points. Buteaux, who redshirted last year's outdoor campaign, finished 28 points ahead of second-place finisher Neil Hines of Iowa State (7,314).
The performance, which ranks second in the country this season, shattered his previous personal best of 7,218 points set at the 2004 Texas Relays and moved him into second place on UTSA’s all-time performers chart. He entered Thursday's final five events as the day one leader with 3,871 points.
“Brandon came in and did what he was supposed to do,” head coach Aaron Fox, who won the 1997 Texas Relays decathlon title, said following the victory. “The plan was to get a mark for the NCAA Championships and getting first place was a nice bonus on top of his personal best.”
Sophomore Tommy Wolfe also had a strong showing, finishing in ninth place with a personal-best 6,837 points. Wolfe missed the national provisional standard by just 63 points.
The four-day meet continues through Saturday.