Sometimes being declared “No. 1” is how athletes define success. Other times, it could be advancing to the next round in a competition. Most of the time, however, that feeling sets in after an athlete establishes a new personal best.
Contemplating all that, it’s easy to imagine how Allan Hancock College track sophmore and rookie decathlete Khalil Mondol feels at the moment. Throughout the past two months, Mondol continually set personal bests, including in the 100-meter dash, javelin throw, long jump, 400-meter dash, shot put, and 110-meter high hurdles.
He set five of those bests at the Northridge Invitational in March. Even though it was Mondol’s first decathlon, he finished with a total score of 3,214 points. He ran a personal-best time in the 100-meter dash at 12.81 seconds. He bettered his javelin throw with a mark of 107 feet, 6 inches; as well as set career highs in the long jump at 17 feet; 400-meter dash at 59.76 seconds; and in the shot put with a toss of 23 feet, 4.5 inches.
“It was the first time I competed in a decathlon,” Mondol said in a Hancock press release. “It was really reassuring to set five personal-best marks while competing with athletes from four-year universities.”
More recently, Mondol represented the Bulldogs at San Diego Mesa College’s Southern California Combined Events Regional Championships on April 7. Mondol is one of 27 men who qualified for the decathlon. By the end of the first day, Mondol sat in 15th place with a total of 1,682 points. He also set three new personal bests by running the 100-meter dash in 12.66 seconds; clearing 17 feet, 1.5 inches in the long jump; and throwing 24 feet, 9.75 inches in the shot put to break his previous marks. By the end of the decathlon, Mondol landed in 14th place and added four more personal bests to his résumé.
“Last season when I decided to start doing decathlons, I was terrible, but after this I feel like a decathlete finally. It feels surreal,” Mondol said. “I want to thank my coach for keeping me committed to it.”
Catherine Hennelly, Hancock’s assistant track coach, said that working with Mondol and witnessing his progress firsthand has been a privilege.
She said his improvement has been amazing, especially when it comes to technique, which can be hard to learn, especially in events such as the high hurdles (you’ve got to jump high and fast), javelin, and the long jump.
“It was good because he set seven personal records, and to me that was seven victories,” she added.“It has taken a year for his body to adapt and for all the training to kick in.”
Modol said he’s really focused on improving in all 10 events, and although he didn’t make the final cut for the state championships this year, he’s going to continue to strive toward becoming a decathlete to be reckoned with.
“I am really excited to see my hard work continue to pay off,” Mondol said in the press release.
This article appears in Apr 16-23, 2015.