Aukland, New Zealand –Kent Centers has a casual approach to athletics but it did not stop him from winning the Otago senior men’s decathlon title yesterday. Centers (29), a Dunedin tree surgeon, made a last-minute decision to enter the championships and took out a one-day registration. He won the title with 4602 points from Jarrod Adams (Ariki, 3930) and defending champion Chris Richards (Hill City-University, 3313). Centers was a top athlete when he competed for the University of California at Santa Barbara in the United States for four years. His best score in the decathlon at that time was 6300 points. His best event was the high jump, with his personal best of 2.11m. He ran the 400m hurdles in 55sec and jumped 4.5m in the pole vault. Centers moved to New Zealand for the lifestyle in 2007 and worked in paua diving on Stewart Island for a few years.He shifted to Dunedin in 2010. Adams persuaded him to return to competition early this year and he won a bronze medal at the national decathlon championships in Auckland. more
