Vermilion's Bath growing as decathlete at Kent State

It takes a special athlete to compete in the decathlon. Vermilion graduate Ayden Bath fits the bill. The 6-foot-5, 185-pound Kent State standout just completed his second season with the Golden Flashes. He won the MAC indoor championship in the heptathlon, then won the conference's outdoor meet decathlon title. "It's definitely a lot of fun," Bath said. "Don't get me wrong: It's hard. It's challenging. It's taxing at times, and you question it. But it's definitely worth it." The decathlon consists of 10 events, spread across two days at a given meet. On Day 1, athletes compete in the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters. The next day, they start with the 110 hurdles, go to discus, then pole vault, then javelin and conclude the competition with a 1500-meter run. In high school, Bath was the best high jumper in Vermilion history (6 feet, 10 inches), a third-place state finisher in the long jump as a senior and one of the state title favorites in the 110 hurdles before an untimely false start at regional prelims. As for the rest of those events? Consider it an ever-evolving work in progress. "It's definitely a challenge learning them all and putting them all together in one meet," Bath said. "We're working there. We're getting there. We've definitely seen major improvements. I'm excited to see what this next year holds." The most technical event to learn, Bath said, was the pole vault. "It was also one of my favorites," he added. "Just because of the challenge of it and the community in pole vault, too. It brings people together just because we all know how difficult it is." Picking up three throwing events was brand new for Bath, too, who has the body and athleticism to hurl the disc and launch the javelin but doesn't look a whole lot like your typical shot putter. "Just strength is definitely a weakness that I have, especially in the throwing events," he said. "I'm not used to throwing a 16-pound shot or the heavy disc or whatnot. But I have the build to throw better. I have improvement to put some more mass on to hopefully get those out there." Then there's the decathlon conclusion, the 1500 meters. For someone who mostly grew up as a sprinter and jumper, that takes some serious gumption. "I never was a distance guy, and don't think I ever will be, but there's definitely improvements to make there," Bath said. After a strong freshman season, Bath entered this year as the favorite to win the MAC multi-event championships, both in the indoor, seven-event heptathlon and in the outdoor season's decathlon. He delivered on that potential. "It was something that I wrote down, told myself, many many times, was that I was going to be the indoor and outdoor multi champion," Bath said. "It's just something that, when workouts got hard or times got rough, that's always what I told myself to motivate me and push me." Bath also made it to regionals in the outdoor season in the 110 hurdles and the long jump. He was only two-tenths of a second from making outdoor nationals in that individual hurdles event, and he credits the variety in his days with actually helping him to improve at that race. "I think a good improvement was just, with being in the multi and training for different events, was having time away," Bath said. "I think what a lot of athletes don't understand is if you're training every day and focusing on one thing, you can kind of get into a mental barrier. Getting away from something that you love doing lets you reflect and understand a little more." Bath fell short of making it to nationals in the decathlon, a spot that is earned based solely on an athlete's best point totals throughout the season. He's still plenty proud of how far he's come in just two seasons. "It's very special," Bath said. "Sometimes, you get so used to it that you kind of overlook it and take it for granted. But it's those times when you sit down and really think about it, really get to enjoy the little things. Yeah, practice is hard, but there's not a lot of kids who come out of high school and get to do this. I try to love every minute of it, and I've gone this far, so let's continue to keep doing it." Bath, a sports administration major who'd like to get into coaching, is home for the summer and plans to stay in shape while enjoying his time back along the lake. Once he returns to Kent, there'll be bigger goals to reach. In some ways, that's the beauty of the decathlon — getting better in one event is only a small piece of the puzzle. There's always more that can be done. "Because I'm doing all these events, sometimes I'm working with the throws group, or with the pole vaulters, or the sprinters," Bath said. "You gain this outlook that you never have in track. It's a social event. You really get to reach out to a lot of people and understand where everybody is coming from. Now you have all these new events, you kind of gain respect for everybody." With a couple more years to go, there's still plenty of time for Bath to make wide-spread improvements in all of his skills. He never pictured himself as a decathlete. He barely knew anything about the event in high school. But now that he's immersed in it, he doesn't plan on letting up. "I'm not done," Bath said. "I'm still adjusting to the college training life. I'm still adjusting to the seven new events that I'm trying out. Like I did in high school, where every year was a major improvement, there's still so much more." ----- Ayden Bath's decathlon marks MAC Outdoor Championships in May 100: 10.82 Long jump: 23-9 Shot put: 37-1 High jump: 6-2.75 400: 50.96 110 hurdles: 14.08 Discus: 120-0 Pole vault: 14-1.25 Javelin: 173-6 1500: 5:27.36 Ayden Bath's heptathlon marks MAC Indoor Championships in February 60: 6.98 Long jump: 23-6.25 Shot put: 40-6.25 High jump: 6-7.5 60 hurdles: 7.99 Pole vault: 14-5.25 1000: 3:14.05