Cody Bingham called the day after he competed in eight events and racked up 52 points for LCA’s track and field team at the VIS championships in May surreal.
“I really didn’t know what just happened the past day,” Bingham said. “I was definitely tired. But I was like, ‘Did that really just happen?’”
Indeed, and it was just the first step for the aspiring decathlete.
The decathlon is not a sanctioned event at high school meets, so Bingham did his best to replicate the 10 disciplines. In the process, he nearly single-handedly lifted the Bulldogs to a state championship. Because of his state-meet feats, the LCA junior is The News & Advance outdoor boys track and field athlete of the year.
“It was a neat experience, just being able to survive it,” Bingham said.
Cody’s father, Lance, was an All-American decathlete at South Plains Junior College and went on to compete for Texas Tech.
Because of his father’s expertise — Lance is an assistant coach at Liberty University — and the Flames’ rich tradition of decathletes, it’s no surprise that Cody caught the bug.
“It’s just the totalness of it,” Cody said. “It’s about being an all-around athlete. It’s just the whole challenge of it. Plus, it’s fun.”
Bingham won the pole vault state title with a leap of 15 feet, 3 inches, a state-record mark that was the best in the area this season.
He posted the best area times in both hurdle disciplines as well but ran into some bad luck. On both occasions, he finished second to an athlete who broke a long-standing state record.
On a 90-degree day in Richmond, Bingham also competed in the long jump, the high jump, the triple jump, the discus and on LCA’s 1,600-meter relay team.
“My mom had a ton of drinks for me, so we were well prepared,” Bingham said.
Bingham has had an opportunity to talk to some of Liberty’s past decathletes, and their advice to the LCA junior was simple.
“Basically, just to keep going,” Bingham said. “Don’t ever let up, even though it’s so hard. Put your head down and keep running.”
Bingham, who is spending the summer as a junior counselor at a Christian camp in Andrews, N.C., won’t compete in a sport next fall. Instead, he’ll train for both the indoor and outdoor track seasons.
He hopes to compete in the decathlon for Liberty once his time at LCA is up.
If he meets that goal, he’ll have an opportunity to compete for his father.
Said Cody: “He definitely knows which way to push me, and which way to not push me. He definitely has experienced this, so he wants the best for me.”
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