Call him All-American

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Daily Reporter staff reports

Greenfield-Central graduate Matthew Dickerson Jr. recently placed fifth with a Wabash College record of 4,857 points in the heptathlon at the 2016 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships to earn All-America honors.

The senior broke his own school record of 4,760 points set earlier this year which qualified him for nationals at Grinnell College in Iowa. He is the first Wabash individual to qualify for the national championship meet in the heptathlon.

After scoring 2,733 points in the first four events, Dickerson opened competition on the second day by earning 858 points with a time of 8.51.

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He added 576 points in the pole vault by clearing a height of 3.85 meters (12 feet, 7.5 inches).

The final results came down to the 1,000-meter run, which Dickerson finished in a personal-best time of 2:57.35 to earn 690 points and grab a top-five finish.

“The scores were so close going into the 1,000,” Dickerson said. “It didn’t really hit me until right after I finished that race. There was such a small margin between third and ninth places. Anyone could have moved up or dropped all the way out of the top-eight spots. I knew when I finished that I had managed to do what I needed to do.”

Dickerson has consistently broken the school record in the heptathlon and decathlon throughout his career. After resetting the mark at the Keck Select meet, he knew that a score of 4,800 points was within reach.

“When I was interviewed heading into the meet, I said that a 4,800-point effort should not surprise anyone,” Dickerson said. “It really follows the performances of my season. I knew I had that in me.”