5/22/2008 – Bruins’ Dillow Named West Region Athlete of the Year by USTFCCCA
NEWBERG, Ore. - All-around athlete Ben Dillow of George Fox University, the national leader in the decathlon entering this weekend’s NCAA Division III National Championships in Oshkosh, Wisc., has been named the NCAA Division III West Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA).
Dillow, a senior who now lives in Newberg but came to the Bruins originally from Kirkland, Wash., and Cedar Park Christian High School, was one of 24 athletes to receive regional recognition at the NCAA championship banquet Wednesday night at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The USTFCCCA honors one track athlete and one field athlete for both men and women from each of the eight NCAA regions.
Dillow is one of the finest decathletes in George Fox history. This season, he has the best decathlon score in the nation with 6,920 points, which he achieved in the Point Loma Nazarene Multi-Events on March 20-21. He also won the Northwest Conference championship in both the decathlon (6,716 points) and the pole vault (14-6.75 / 4.44m). He is the probable favorite to win the D-III decathlon Thursday and Friday as he participates in his fourth NCAA national event, one of 10 Bruin athletes entered in seven events this week.
After finishing 12th in the nationals as a freshman in 2004 with 6,303 points, Dillow earned All-America honors in each of his next two national competitions. As a sophomore in 2005, he placed second with a career-high 6,932 points, the second-best total in Bruin history to current GFU head coach John Smith’s 7,138 points in 1995. After sitting out the 2006 season with a knee injury, he returned to the nationals in 2007 and finished third with 6,925 points.