UCLA heptathletes, decathletes sharpen up for Pac-12 Multi-Event Championships

Track and field is often known for superstar athletes who dominate their particular events. But this weekend, the spotlight will shine on UCLA’s decathletes and heptathletes, who have to handle the task of specializing in many vastly different events.

Junior heptathlete Tatum Souza and other UCLA heptathletes and decathletes will compete this weekend at the Pac-12 Multi-Event Championships, where the athletes will have to push through all of their events in a single day.

Faced with the grueling task of competing in 10 events for the men and seven events for the women in each track meet, the Bruins downplay the physically strenuous nature of their event. Instead, Souza enjoys the variety that seven different events bring.

“We’re all trying really hard to be great at a number of things instead of just one,” Souza said. “It’s fun having an overall score that counts so many different things that we have to work on and focus on; and if one event goes poorly, (we are) able to do well in a different event.”

It seems that the desire to excel at a multitude of things is a common trait for a successful multi-event athlete. Souza began training for the heptathlon in high school after her coach suggested looking into it after she competed in so many different events.

Similarly, senior decathlete Dominic Giovannoni began training for the decathlon in high school after his dad predicted that Giovannoni’s best shot in continuing track and field at higher levels of competition would be the decathlon. And just like Souza, Giovannoni relishes the change in pace that training for the decathlon brings.

“I think it helps me that I don’t have to focus on the same thing over and over again,” Giovannoni said. “I have 10 different things I have to focus on instead.”

To add onto the pressure of performing well in so many events, the UCLA decathletes and heptathletes will also try to match the lofty expectations they’ve set for themselves this weekend – expectations that will have lasting results for the entire UCLA squad.

With this weekend marking the beginning of Pac-12 conference championships, coach Jack Hoyt hopes that the Bruins can explode quickly off the starting blocks.

“They’re sharpening up for this weekend, getting fresh and ready to hit big scores,” Hoyt said. “Hopefully we can start our team off in first place after the first weekend.”

Both Souza and Giovannoni echoed their coach’s expectation for huge scores this weekend. For Giovannoni however, this weekend will be a bit different. As a senior, this will be his last Pac-12 conference championship, and he plans to enjoy every last minute of it by just getting down to the basics.

“It’s just a bunch of big strong dudes going out there and working hard for a couple of hours,” Giovannoni said. “There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs, a lot of emotions.”