The Story Behind the Day

With only a few minutes left until the 1500m began, Caleb Smith approached his starting point. Despite the 100-degree heat and the sun beating down on him, he felt loose as he waited for the announcers to finish their spiel. He heard his name and a number that seemed to be attached to it now – 5:09.

All he needed was a 5:09 ; a number that could change everything – everything he dreamed about – but he couldn’t think about that yet. While he was able to find success in the other events of the decathlon , there was still one more he needed to finish. As the other runners got into position, Smith took a deep breath as he waited for the signal, muscles tense, senses heightened, and only one thought going through his head: 5:09. 

Smith – now a senior at George Fox – originally came to the school to compete with the football team. While he did try track in his freshman year in high school, it took some time before he considered competing as a track athlete in college. But once he did, it changed everything.

“Towards the end of the season, [head coach John Smith] texted me and asked if I wanted to try out the Decathlon," he said. “I just fell in love with it. It was awesome to practice two or three events a day. I was never bored of doing the same thing.”

Through his sophomore year, Smith was juggling being a two-sport athlete — and though Smith did record one touchdown while on the gridiron — by the time his junior year rolled around, he made the decision to solely focus on track. Despite the switch in sports, there wasn’t much time for rest, but thanks to the team around him, the transition was easy.

“It felt more personal to me that I had the opportunity to train for myself,” Smith said, “but also to be surrounded by such a great group.”

One of the people in that group was head track and field coach John Smith. A former athlete at George Fox, John set many records as an athlete in a Hall of Fame career before turning to coaching. Serving as an assistant for eight seasons, he then took over for legendary track and field coach Wes Cook in 2006 and expanded the GFU legacy.

John Smith has collected 20 USTFCCCA West Region Coach of the Year honors, 16 NWC Coach of the Year awards, and the 2018 NCAA D-III National Coach of the Year award. In his time as head coach, the Bruins have won eight consecutive NWC Championships on both the men’s and women’s sides, with the women winning the 2018 national title. In all that time, though, one record has stood firm: John’s decathlon record, set in 1995, of 7138 points.

“ John’s son Blake and I [have] been talking about the record since sophomore year,” Caleb said. “We said, we are going to be the guys to go up there and try to break his mark.”

After a busy junior season for Caleb Smith, it all came down to the Last Chance Decathlon to see if he would qualify for Nationals. While he was able to make it to the Last Chance, it had been a long road to get to that point.

“I was pretty much injured all year,” Caleb said, “I pulled both my hamstrings twice, so I was basically out the whole year. I ended up doing the Last Chance Decathlon at 80% health,”

When Smith wasn’t able to qualify for nationals in 2025, for his senior season in 2026, he had another goal to strive for. After a successful indoor season, the Bruins headed to California for the Redlands Invite.

Going into the meet in California, he planned to go slower and to take fewer attempts to be careful of his still-nagging hamstring. On day one, Caleb had a 100m PR of 10.93 and followed it up with a solid long jump. Still wary of the injury, John decided to stop early on the attempts, focusing on qualifying for nationals and making sure his athlete stayed healthy. However, any ideas of slowing down ended after day one.

“The night before day two, we’re crunching the numbers,” Caleb said. “And if we do this and that, I might be able to break 7,000.”

“By the end of day one, I realized he was on pace for 7100-7200, and I started kicking myself for holding him back and not taking that final jump,” John said, “I told him during the pole vault on day two I was done managing his attempts and I’d let him make the call after I advised him.”

With Nationals in sight and Caleb on the verge of breaking a 30-year-old record, day two was the day that pressure set in. Despite all the factors against Caleb – the pressure, the heat, his injuries – he competed as if none of it was weighing him down.

The 110m hurdles were a PR. The discus was a PR. Then, the decathlon athletes went to the pole vault. Same thing. A third PR javelin was next.

It all came down to the 1500. With the whole meet coming down to this moment, it seemed like the whole stadium knew about the record and what the next moment meant. But before it began, Coach Smith made sure to be there for his athlete.

“John kind of brought [the record] up,” Caleb said, “He talked to me before and was like, ‘Obviously you know you’re on pace for the national qualifier, but there’s some other things at stake. ’He didn’t say what it was, but I knew he was talking about the record, which I couldn’t think about.”

With their calculations, the two realized that all Caleb would need to do to break the record would be to run that number: a 5:09. 

As Smith rounded the corner, his eyes focused on the clock for a split second before he threw his head back for the final push. He could hear the cheers around him, but as he neared the finish, he couldn’t feel his legs anymore – the only thing propelling him forward was sheer determination.

As soon as his foot hit the finish line, he collapsed to his hands and knees, suddenly very aware of the people surrounding him and the uproar of cheers they brought with them. People were telling him to get off the track, but no matter how much he willed his legs to move, they refused to budge, heavy from exhaustion and adrenaline.

With his coach’s arm around him as the two walked off the track, Smith looked behind him at the clock just to make sure; with a smile, he turned back to his teammates with the glowing numbers of not just a 5:09, but a 5:02, shining brightly behind him. Those points gave Caleb Smith the all-time record, a score of 7170 in one of the hardest athletic competitions in any sport — and a mark that is third in NCAA Division III in 2026.

“Caleb has been a hard-working and fun athlete to coach,” John said, “He is very well balanced in his events, and it was tough watching him be injured the last couple of years.  Despite the injuries, he still showed up to practices and was there to support teammates.  I couldn’t be more happy for an athlete to have a breakthrough and set the record; all his teammates would agree, it couldn’t happen to a nicer and more humble guy.  Best of all is that he just glorifies the Lord through all his actions and the way he carries himself and competes. We are blessed to have him at GFU.”

After breaking George Fox’s decathlon record and making it to nationals all in the same meet, Caleb is now looking to end his senior year strong. The 2026 NWC Decathlon Champion is getting in the right mindset for Nationals by competing in the NWC Championships on April 25 and 26, looking to add another conference title to his coaches’ trophy case.

Smith said, “The rest of the season will just be getting in good practices, staying in good shape, and hopefully, doing it all one more time.”

After all, after one big record down, what’s another lofty goal?