EUGENE, Ore. -- After a career day in the decathlon on Wednesday at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Wisconsin's Zach Ziemek continued his success on Thursday en route to breaking his own Big Ten Conference record with a score of 8,300 points in the decathlon.
 
'Double Z's' score led the Itasca, Illinois, native to a second-place finish at Hayward Field and to the No. 7 ranking in the world in the 10-event discipline.  
 
"I think it went great considering that I had a huge personal record," Ziemek said. "Lindon Victor (the NCAA champion) is a great competitor and a great athlete. I slipped up a little bit in the (pole) vault, but you can't be perfect in ten events."
 
"To score 8,300 points and finish second by 79 points is insane," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "Zach gave it his all out here the last two days and just fell short of another NCAA title. We are all very proud of his performance.
 
"He left everything out there in the 1500 meters and it has to be satisfying for Zach to reach the 8300-point milestone."
 
Ziemek's score toppled his previous personal best of 8,107 set at the 2015 USA Outdoor Championships, also at Hayward Field. In addition, Ziemek's score of 8,300 points was the best decathlon score at the NCAA meet by a second-place finisher.
 
Winning the decathlon was Texas A&M's Lindon Victor, the collegiate leader in the event, who tallied 8,379 points. Two-time NCAA decathlon champion Maciel Uibo of Georgia was third with 8,294 points. 
 
"There are some great athletes out there," Ziemek said about the overall competition. "A couple of them are going to the Olympics. They push me and I push them, so it just makes us all better."
 
In addition, junior Brandon Mortensen finished in 20th place with 6,971 points in his first NCAA championship appearance. 
 
"It's all about coming out here and getting ready for next year," Mortensen said. "Being out here with Zach obviously is unbelievable, learning from him and getting to train with him. I've got nothing but great things to say about him. There's not a mean bone in his body.
 
"It's good to come out here and get this experience, learn from it, and move on."
 
"Brandon gave it his all out there," Byrne said. "There is a huge learning curve in the decathlon and I know he will walk away from this week having gained a ton of experience." 

 
The decathlon day one leader, Ziemek, opened the second day with a time of 14.85 in the 110 hurdles to win his section of the event and tally 868 points. But The Itasca, Illinois, native saw his lead vanish, as Georgia's Devon Williams won the event with a time of 13.99 seconds to take the decathlon lead.
 
Mortensen finished in 15.99 seconds and recorded 734 points.
 
On his second attempt in the discus, Ziemek launched the disc 153-11, a personal-best decathlon mark, and finished second in the event to remain in second place in the competition. Victor won the discus with a NCAA meet record of 175-5 to take the overall lead. 
 
In the pole vault, Ziemek entered the competition at 16-4 3/4, which he cleared easily. However, on the following bar of 16-8 3/4, Ziemek was unable to clear the height and tied for third in the event. 
 
"The vault really killed me, but I hope that it teaches me a lesson for the U.S. Olympic Trials," Ziemek said. 
 
Mortensen cleared 14-1 1/4 in the vault to tie for 15th in the event.
 
Despite the pole vault miscue, 'Double Z' held a lead of 22 points heading into the javelin, but Victor retook the lead with a javelin throw of 215-4.
 
But Ziemek kept things close, launching a bomb of 191-4, topping his previous personal-best effort by three inches. His throw ranked eighth in the competition. 
 
Mortensen also fared well in the javelin with a throw of 175-6, which was the 14th-best mark.
 
Ziemek set his second personal-best mark of the day in the 1500 meters, shaving almost 10 seconds off of his previous personal record with a time of 4:42.52. 
 
"I knew that I was in shape to run fast," Ziemek said. "I went out there and I gave it everything I had to make a chance for first and I came up short.  
 
"I gave it everything I had."
 
Mortensen finished in 4:50.43 to garner honorable mention All-America honors. 
 
Two Badgers compete on Friday, the final day of men's events at the NCAA outdoor championships. Josh McDonald throws the discus at 7:05 p.m. CT, while Morgan McDonald races in the 5000 meters at 9:25 p.m.