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Tom Pappas cemented his place at the top of the United States’ decathlon hierarchy by winning the U.S. Championship Thursday at Cal. 

The decathlon, part of the USA Outdoor Combined Event Championships at Edwards Stadium, was not close down the stretch, as Pappas stretched out what had been a small lead over Bryan Clay. The Azusa Pacific product closed to within 57 points of Pappas with a discus throw of 164 feet, seven inches. But Pappas, who finished fifth in the 2000 Olympics, won with 8,398 points to Clay’s 8,230. Clay’s mark is the highest by a college decathlete this year. 

Shelia Burrell won the U.S. heptathlon title with 6,299 points. On Wednesday, Burrell led two -time defending champion DeDee Nathan by just 11 points. But on Day 2, Burrell, the bronze medalist in the event at last year’s World Championships, widened that margin on Nathan, who scored 5,995 and placed second overall. Burrell won the long jump (21 feet, 6.75 inches, a personal record) and the javelin throw (148-3) to give her a big cushion going into the final event, the 800. She finished second in the 800 (2 minutes, 16.32 seconds). 

Pappas did not win any events on Thursday but held off Clay and Phil McMullen (7,934), who rose from ninth place after Day 1 to take third. 

Like Burrell, Pappas was tired coming off of an international meet at Gotzis, Austria, about three weeks ago. Both champions said they were not as sharp as usual, especially on a windy Day 2. 

"There were a lot of mental mistakes," Pappas said, "and technically I wasn’t there, but I think the physical part was pretty good. 

"Today I didn’t have any good marks. My [110] hurdles [13.97] was the only thing that was solid. My discus [148-5] I was very disappointed with. The [pole] vault [16-4.75] I was actually happy with, with the conditions." 

Burrell had hoped to score 6,400 points -- her PR is 6,472 -- but was happy to win. The last time she won the U.S. Championship was in 1999. 

"It always seems the U.S. Championships elude me," she said. "I’m always the happiest second-place finisher, the happiest third-place finisher. 

"I’m never going to score 7,292 like Jackie [Joyner-Kersey] did, but my intention is to no matter what go out there and be the next great American heptathlete, to represent the United States in the heptathlon. ... My goal is now a two-year goal. The Athens Olympics." 

Another competitor pointing to 2004 was Dan O’Brien. The 1996 Olympic gold medalist competed in eight of 10 events but ended any chance he had of winning the U.S. Championship by pulling out of the 400 meters on Wednesday because of a chronic plantar fascia injury in his left foot. The pain didn’t keep him out of Day 2, when he showed that he is still a force in the sport. He won the discus, with a throw of 175 feet, 10 inches, and the javelin (211-6). O’Brien bowed out of the 1,500 meters to finish 10th overall with a mark of 6,904. 

O’Brien, who said he could have run with pain in the 1,500 if he had to, was happy with his Day 2 performance. 

"Especially after the discus," he said. "You look back and throw in some average marks in the 400 and the 1,500, and I probably go well over 8,200 points. But my goal isn’t to score in the low 8,000s; it’s to score in the high 8,000s. I feel good about everything. I just need more work." 

On Wednesday, O’Brien blamed his performance on his injury and the lack of a major championship -- such as the World Championship or Olympics -- to motivate him. But that didn’t stop Pappas. 

"It’s just as easy for me to get up for any national championship," Pappas said, "whether there’s a team to get up for or not. Coming out here, it’s the best U.S. guys competing and it’s our championship meet. You always want to do your best."