Horn, Nickles in top 10 nationally in heptathlon

It seems like yesterday when Waynesfield-Goshen’s Gray Horn and Columbus Grove’s Heath Nickles were at the top of the list of high school track and field athletes in this area. Upon graduation, both Horn and Nickles then took their athletic skills to the collegiate level, where they have continued to make a name for themselves

Horn, a University of Florida senior, has been a dominant force in the heptathlon. Horn recently set the school record in the heptathlon, scoring 5,971 points at the Texas A&M Challenge. He took first place in the 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 60-meter hurdles. He also finished second in the 1,000m run and third in the pole vault.

Horn’s performance at the Texas A&M Challenge was good enough to guarantee a spot in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor National Championships in March.

According to Track and Field News, Horn’s performance was the sixth-best collegiate performance ever.

Last year as a junior, Horn notched two All-America titles and two SEC titles. He captured SEC titles in both indoors and outdoors, claiming the 2011 SEC Indoor Championships heptathlon title and the SEC Outdoor Championships decathlon title.

Last season, Horn finished fourth in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a personal-best and school-record 5,890 points. At the Outdoor Championships, Horn finished fifth at the Outdoor Championships.

Nickles, a redshirt junior at Ohio State, is continuing to make a name for himself. Nickles competes in the heptathlon and pole vault. Nickles is ranked 10th in the nation in the heptathlon and 14th in the pole vault. He is the school record holder at OSU in the heptathlon (5,602). In 2011, Nickles was the Big Ten champion in the decathlon.

Back in December, Nickles set the school record in the heptathlon at the Kent State Golden Flash Gala. In the pole vault, he cleared 17 feet, 4 1/2 inches, which was the second-best indoor mark in school history.

I covered both of these athletes throughout their high school careers. There were several memorable head-to-head battles between these two, in both the pole vault and the hurdles. The one thing that always impressed me was the way they were such fierce competitors, but at the same time, remained close friends.

There was something special about the way they both competed. Anytime they lined up at the starting line or began to stare down the runway at the pole vault, there was a chance that something special might happen. You never wanted to look away when they competed.

I remember the two going head-to-head in the pole vault at the Division III state track meet in 2007. The year before, Horn won the state title in the pole vault, defeating Shane Shockey (Bluffton), who was the defending state champion. Shockey, who is now a senior at the University of Findlay, is a Division II All-American in the pole vault. In 2006, Nickles was injured and did not compete at the state meet.

At the 2007 state meet, both Nickles and Horn cleared 15-4. However, Nickles claimed the state title based on the number of attempts. What a battle that was.

At the 2008 state meet, Horn unfortunately struggled with an injury which forced him to not-height in the pole vault. Nickles went on to set a state record with a vault of 16-1 1/2. However, Horn exhibited his almost inhuman desire to compete as he regrouped and went on to win the long jump. Nickles also finished second in the 300-meter hurdles and fourth in the 110 hurdles that same season.

Now, it seems fitting that the two high school rivals/friends are at the top of their respective college programs. Horn has set the bar at Florida, while Nickles has placed his name at the top of the list at OSU.

Boy, I’d give anything to see one more head-to-head battle between those two.