North Allegheny decathlete Ayden Owens places 12th at IAAF World U20 Championship

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, July 12, 2018 | 1:21 AM

Ayden Owens’ international track debut didn’t end with a medal Wednesday, but the decathlete did add his name to the IAAF record books.

The recent North Allegheny graduate established a meet record in the decathlon hurdles and set personal bests in five other events at the IAAF World U20 Championship in Tampere, Finland. The five-time state champion won the 110 hurdles in 13.74 seconds, the fastest mark since the IAAF reset its under-20 decathlon records in 2006.

Owens finished 12th overall in the 14-person decathlon field with 6,093 points. He would have ranked in the top five if not for a disqualification Tuesday in the 400 meters that cost him 876 points.

Australia’s Ashley Moloney won the 10-event competition with 8,190 points, and teammate Gary Haasbroek was second with 7,798. American Kyle Garland placed seventh with 7,451.

Owens represented Puerto Rico , where his maternal grandparents were born.

The Southern Cal recruit placed second in the 100 meters (10.67 seconds), fifth in both the long jump (6.94 meters) and shot put (13.71 meters), and sixth in the high jump (1.92 meters) on Day 1. In Tuesday’s final event, Owens was initially credited with a personal-best 48.70-second finish in the 400 meters, but later was listed as disqualified.

On Day 2, after winning the hurdles, Owens placed sixth in the discus (42.72 meters), 11th in the pole vault (4.30 meters), 11th in the javelin (43.06 meters) and seventh in the 1,500 meters (4:44.76).

Owens reached personal bests in the 100 meters, 1,500 meters, discus, pole vault and shot put.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.