6/17/08

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Ashton Eaton's breakthrough performance to win the NCAA Division I decathlon championship last week was how much better it might have been.

Imagine, say, Eaton had been competing under more optimum conditions on his home track -- like he will be soon at the U.S. Olympic Trials, which begin next week at Hayward Field in Eugene.

As it was, in his sixth career decathlon, the Oregon sophomore scored 8,055 points, third all-time in school history despite the following: