Monday, July 10, 2000

Multi-Talented
Stephen Moore’s varied abilities may lead former Wildcat to Olympic berth
By Jeff Walker
Reporter-News Staff Writer

He can run with the best of them, and he can jump with the best of them. He has the strength of some of them, and all he has to do is put it all together for two days and he gets a free trip to Sydney, Australia.

Stephen Moore, a graduate of Abilene Christian University, will compete with the top athletes in the country next weekend for the right to participate in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Moore is competing in the decathlon, which is a combination of 10 running and field events where individuals accumulate points. The top three point-scorers will receive spots on the United States team headed to Sydney.

“When I was at ACU, I didn’t really fit in at any single event,” Moore said. “The coaches looked at my ability and said I should try this. I figured the Lord led me to this place (ACU) and I would trust the people there who were in charge of my athletic career.”

Two of the most notable decathlon winners from the U.S. are Bruce Jenner and Dan O’Brien. Moore will be competing against O’Brien in Sacramento, Calif.

“This is an Olympic year so a lot of guys come out of the woodwork,” said Texas Tech track coach Wes Kittley, who coached Moore at ACU and is helping train the former Wildcat in Lubbock. “Dan O’Brien didn’t compete last year, but he’ll probably be at this one. If he’s hurt, though, he may not be a factor, but we’re going in thinking he’s healthy.”

The competition at this level is stiff. Moore is currently ranked fourth in the United States in the decathlon, but Kittley warns that those are just against active competitors.

Moore said he knows the talent will be thick at the trials.

“I look at it as a challenge any time I face guys who are well-known or who have done well,” he said. “I kind of see it as stepping up to the plate and trying to get a hit. As long as I do the best that I can I will walk away happy.”

Moore’s best overall point total is 8,037. He and Kittley figure that to qualify for the Olympics, the top three athletes will need to score somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,300-8,500. Moore shrugs off the fact that those numbers are nearly 300-500 more than his personal best.

“I’ve been setting personal bests in different events throughout the year,” he said. “If you do those things in the decathlon, not just one event, but three or four, you’re going to increase your points. I sit and play with the numbers all the time. If I give a good, solid effort in all 10 events and have no screw-ups, I expect to do well and feel I have a good chance.”

Moore will be competing in the 100, 400, 110 hurdles and 1,500 for the running events, while also trying to score points in field events like the discus, pole vault, javelin, high jump, long jump and shot put.

“He’s got a great chance if he can go through it healthy,” Kittley said of Moore. “We’re trying to focus on having a big first day. He’s a great sprinter and a great jumper ... and he’s made great strides in improving his 1,500.”

Kittley says training for the decathlon is not as complex as it may seem.

“Most of the events require the same type of energy level,” he said. “The only big difference is in the 1,500 because that’s a longer running event. The other events, though, tap into the same energy system so it’s a matter of mastering the technical events, and it takes years to perfect.”

Moore’s training schedule has included about two or three hours of work per day, though that time escalated to about four to six hours per day earlier in the year. With the workload decreased as the trials near, Moore said he is focusing on the mental approach to the trials.

“Right now it’s about visualization,” he said. “I’m going out (to Sacramento) a week before the trials so I can get on the track and get comfortable, see the way the wind blows when I’m running. It’s about relaxation now because you don’t want to wear yourself out by the time it gets here.”

Contact staff writer Jeff Walker at 676-6711 or walkerj@abinews.com. We are on the Web at sports.texnews.com.