Arguably one of the greatest athletes our nation has ever seen, Grant Holloway (Grassfield), has released to MileStat the most important information of the season... what events he will be competing in at New Balance Indoor Nationals.
Last year he finished as the national runner-up in the high jump and as the national champion in the 60m hurdles at a US #2 all-time time of 7.59 (he also tied the national record of 7.05 in the 55m hurdles in route.)
Just like last year though, he is not only a high jumper and hurdler. Right now he has the US #1 in the 55m dash (6.22), US #1 in the 55m hurdles (7.22), US #1 in the high jump (6-10), and US #1 long jump (25-11.5). He also is US #2 in the 500 (1:04.41) since December after only running it once. He also has a 33.54 best in the 300 from last year which would be US #4 this season if he hadn't improved at all!
With that wide range of expertise and a high level of skill in nearly every event, it only makes only one event the perfect event for him. That of course is the Pentathlon. He will competing in that event and the championship 60mH to defend his title there. For those unfamiliar with multis, it is comprised of the 60mH, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 1000m run in that order over 7 hours and 15 minutes.
Now let's dig into the records because there is really the only reason an elite athlete would enter into this event and that is to chase the national record! Right now the national record is Gunnar Nixon's (Oklahoma) 4307 points set back in 2011 at NBNI. Below we break down what Grant can do or would need to do to chase the national record!
Pentathlon Cheat Sheet!
| 60mH | Pts | Long Jump | Pts | Shot Put | Pts | High Jump | Pts | 1000m Run | Pts | Total | |
| Gunnar Nixon's National Record (2011) | 8.03 | 974 | 23-6.75 | 857 | 47-11.75 | 766 | 6-6.75 | 803 | 2:37.00 | 907 | 4307 |
| Grant Holloway's Personal Records | 7.59 | 1087 | 25-11.5 | 1038 | 38-11 | 598 | 7-1 | 944 | 2:51.68 | 748 | 4415 |
| What Grant Realistically Needs | 7.70 | 1059 | 24-11 | 957 | 41-6 | 645 | 6-9 | 850 | 2:47.00 | 797 | 4308 |
As you can see the pentathlon is scored based on what the records are in each event. That means the closer and more elite your performance is in that specific event the higher the score. This bodes very well for Grant as he is number two and number three all-time in two of those events (60mH and Long Jump). He will however realistically need to drop time in the 1000m and add some distance in the shot put to have a great shot. Both are very realistic and if he hits those numbers above he can call another national record his own!
This event will be over seven hours and fifteen minutes. Starting with the 60mH and working through all the events in the order they are listed above. You can also see that he has some room for error but needs to perform in every event... they don't call it a national record if its easy to attain.
To do your own calculations use the USATF calculator.
