Arlington senior Ryan Rushton was the athlete with the highest total score after the Washington State Combined Events Championship had ended. He partook in the decathlon over June 5-6, competing in ten events over the two days. 

“My body is still really sore and I can feel it just standing here,” Rushton said.

Rushton performed at a very high level in multiple events, contributing to his overall score of 6253 points. This score makes him second in school history, behind Jaden Roskelley and in front of Blake McPherson.

“My best events were the 100 meters and the 400 meters as I won both and got 1600 points from just those two events,” said Rushton.

Two moments, one from each day, stood out to Rushton.

“My favorite moment from the first day was jumping 6’1.75 because it can be really hard to replicate a PR in the high jump and I needed the points,” he said. “I had a ton of excitement after clearing that height.”

The next moment was when he realized that he was having a good race in the 1500-meter run, the last race of the decathlon. 

“That’s when I knew I was going to win.” 

Rushton will be competing in the decathlon at Utah Valley University after he completes his mission in Lima, Peru.

“My plan is to stay in good shape however I can and then when I get to college the coaches will get me where I need to be to perform well at the Division I level.”

Rushton is the second Eagle to win the decathlon in the last three years, as Roskelley won in 2021.

“I have been preparing for this decathlon for the last couple years and training really seriously for the last nine months,” said Rushton. “All that coming together for a win was amazing and worth all the hard work.