Tanner McNutt isn’t faster than a bullet, strong enough to lift a car above his head or able to leap over tall buildings. MCNUTT WASN’T originally recruited to be a heptathlete or decathlete. He was more noted for his times in the 400 and 800.
However, the 2013 Humboldt High graduate is about as close as they come to a real life Superman.
McNutt, in his redshirt freshman season at Pittsburg State University, won the 2015 MIAA Indoor Heptathlon Title Friday.
The heptathlon is a seven-event track and field competition. The indoor version features a 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 100-meter dash.
“I guess I was pretty proud of myself, but it couldn’t have been possible without my coach, Kyle Rutledge, or even the senior leadership I’ve had with Jeff Piepenbrink,” McNutt said.
McNutt came out of Humboldt as a four-time Class 3A state champion in 400- and 800-meter runs.
“Coach Rutledge took me as a project and saw I did other events in high school like the long jump. He just asked me one day if I wanted to try (the heptathlon and decathlon) and I told him I would,” McNutt said.
His win at the MIAA Indoor Championships qualified McNutt for nationals in a couple weeks.
“My expectation is for him just to be able to compete and have a good competition,” Rutledge said. “Whatever place that might be, I’m ecstatic and really happy for him.”
McNutt said his goal is to earn All-American status at nationals.
Once nationals are over and the outdoor season starts, McNutt will compete in the decathlon.
The decathlon famously decides “The World’s Greatest Athlete” at the Summer Olympics and adds three more events: 110-meter hurdles, javelin and discus. It also increases the 1000-meter run to 1500 meters
“Coach Russ Jewett and myself both recruited him,” Rutledge said. “We knew he was a good athlete and would benefit this program either as a decathlete or as an 800-meter runner.”
Coach Rutledge also noted that McNutt was doing other events for Humboldt — he was a team player.
“That’s always a good candidate for a decathlete in college. He is a young man that does a lot for his team,” Rutledge said. “It shows he is very versatile and it also shows that he probably didn’t have a lot of time training for all those events. To be so good at those with minimal time to train, we kind of looked at him being a good athlete for the decathlon.”
McNutt trains 4-5 hours a day.
“I was probably in better shape in high school because all I did was run,” McNutt said. “But, I’m a lot stronger now, that’s for sure. I’m also more technically sound for the other events.”
After college, McNutt wouldn’t mind trying to work his way toward the Olympics.
“That’s always going to be a lifetime goal,” McNutt said. “I think that should be every college athletes goal, to go to the next level.”
Until then, the redshirt freshman still has three more years of eligibility at Pitt State and more success on the way.
“I’m unbelievably proud of what that young man has accomplished so far,” Rutledge said. “Words can’t describe how proud I am of him.”
McNutt succeeds at PSU
