Ethan Ross is familiar with competing in multiple events.

Just this year, the Centralia senior earned medals in the 200, 400, 4x400 and javelin at the MSHSAA Class 3 State Championships. On Aug. 1, Ross took on 10 events in the 17-18 division decathlon at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Des Moines, Iowa, and finished third out of 32 boys with 6,508 points.

It was the first decathlon for Ross. He won the 400 with a time of 48.83 and the javelin with a throw of 54.08 meters in what were his most experienced events, including on the national level this summer at Nike Outdoor Nationals. Ross finished second in the 100 with a time of 10.86, was fifth in the pole vault with a height of 3.80 meters and was sixth in the long jump with a distance of 6.54 meters. 

“We knew going into it, if I was healthy, top five would be in the mix somewhere,” Ross said. “For a first time ever doing one, it was a pretty good result. I’ve got room to improve. You’re never going to do everything as best as you can in a decathlon because there are 10 different things to worry about, but it was a good starting spot at least.”

Ross said he entered into the national decathlon circuit after making an AAU track account. He was inspired into doing it because the son of javelin coach Keith Davis competed in the decathlon. Davis told Ross he had what it takes, and Ross thought it was fun.

This decathlon wasn’t quite as physically exhausting to Ross as the second day of state track this season. On Day 2, the weather forced a rolling schedule which condensed the event finals for Ross into a shorter time period. 

“That Day 2 of state track was definitely one of the harder things I’ve ever done,” Ross said. “You have at least 30 minutes between each (decathlon) event. Not a lot of them are all-out like the 400 and 200.”

The preparation was different as there were a few events where Ross either had little experience. Ross did pole vault and long jump as an underclassmen, but events such as shot put and discus were especially unfamiliar. Ross finished 11th in the shot put with a throw of 11.66 meters and 13th in the discus with a mark of 30.87 meters.

“(During the school year) I’ve done those maybe a couple times in practice, and that was it,” Ross said. “I was just messing around. I worked with (Donnie) Harn a couple times and learned as much as I could learn in a couple practices. I definitely still have a lot to learn and a long way to go with those.”

Ross was ninth in the 1500 with a time of 5:00.49, 13th in the high jump with a height of 1.70 meters, and 16th in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.66. He said only so much time is available to practice for multiple events, so he tried to use this time wisely.

“Not very much time got spent on sprints in practice because I already could do sprints,” Ross said. “Not a lot of time got spent on javelin because I already had a javelin background. If I did another one next summer, I definitely would spend a lot more time on hurdles, high jump, shot put and discus to just try to equal everything out.”

Out of the less familiar events, Ross said he enjoyed pole vault the most. Ross last competed in pole vault as a freshman, but he was able to beat his personal-best 3.65 meters from back then.

“That’s a fun event,” Ross said. “It’s not quite like riding a bike, but it’s close. You don’t lose it all, but it was hard to relearn.”

Ross is open to doing another decathlon and more AAU track next summer. As for college, he hasn’t decided yet. He has played football and basketball throughout high school and is focused on football with kickoff happening in a couple weeks. 

“I think I’ll know after this football season’s over,” Ross said. “I’m definitely keeping options open with football and track. I enjoy both of them quite a bit.”