Not only did senior Aaron Hannon stand alone as the winner of the decathalon at the Kansas Relays Thursday in Lawrence, but now he stands alone in the Baker history books.
Hannon is the first Baker athlete to win a Kansas Relays event, and he did it with a career-best performance of 6,948 points.
“Baker being small and really close to Lawrence, sometimes people don’t really know where we are, especially up in Lawrence sometimes they don’t even know where Baldwin is,” Hannon said. “So, I think it’s a big accomplishment for Baker overall.”
Hannon won three events in the decathalon, the 100-meter dash, 400-meter run and the javelin.
“With the (100-meter dash) and then the 400 I knew I was really confident going in, and then with the javelin I wasn’t really expecting much but I just went out and had some big throws,” Hannon said.
He also finished second in the 110-meter hurdles, shot put and long jump, and sealed a third and two fourth-place finishes.
“He’s just really versitile and he’s talented in numerous events,” Assistant Athletic Director Theresa Yetmar said. “We’re very proud of him and … he really put the Baker University track program on the map.”
Hannon beat the runner-up by nearly 200 points, which was Nebraska’s Teran Walford, finishing with 6,785 points. Taylor Short of Arkansas State placed third with 6,413 points.
“Going in I knew there was going to be some good competition, but I just took it as, just go have fun,” Hannon said. “It’s really a big deal to compete against people at (NCAA Division 1 schools) and big schools like that.”
Yetmar said she did not have an exact estimate of how many years Baker has competed at the Kansas Relays, but Baker has been a part of the event for as long as she has been associated with Baker. Other Baker athletes could match Hannon’s feat by winning an event at the Kansas Relays, but Hannon will always be the first.
“I said to Aaron, I wrote him a message and said … you will forever be the first Baker University track and field athlete to have been a KU Relays champion, and no one can ever take that away from you,” Yetmar said.