David Klech (born April 29, 1988) is an American

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ ...

. He attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, after transferring from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Athletic career

Prep

One of the most dominant high school athletes of his time, Klech was a stand-out in nearly all track & field events. Klech won a bronze medal in a tight finish in the

400 meter hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

at the

2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics were held in Marrakesh, Morocco on July 13–July 17. The host stadium was Stade Sidi Youssef Ben Ali. The boy's 400 metres hurdles event was initially won by Sudan's Abdulagadir Idriss in a time ...

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

. That medal was advanced to silver when the winner, Abdulagadir Idriss, was disqualified for doping. Klech was credited with the same time as eventual winner Mohammed Daak. In 2006, his senior year, Klech represented California High School in

San Ramon, California San Ramon (Spanish: ''San Ramón'', meaning "St. Raymond") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located within the San Ramon Valley, and east of San Francisco. San Ramon's population was 84,605 per the 2020 census, maki ...

with a national high school leading 300 meter hurdles time of 35.45, set at the

Arcadia Invitational The Arcadia Invitational is a high school track and field meet in the United States. It is considered the most competitive meet in the country and has been billed as the "Home of National Records". The meet is held at Arcadia High School in Arcad ...

, and a 400 meter hurdles time of 50.35 set at the Stanford Invitational. He won the 300 hurdles at the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

, defeating both

Jeshua Anderson Jeshua Anderson (born June 22, 1989) is a retired American sprinter, who specializes in the 400 meter hurdles. He is a 3 time NCAA champion in the 400m hurdles and was the second freshman from Washington State University to ever win the NCAA titl ...

and

Reggie Wyatt On May 29, 2021 - Reggie Married Tyreebee Whaley . Reginald "Reggie" Wyatt (born September 17, 1990) is an American hurdler. He is the current holder of the NFHS (United States High School) record in the 300 meters intermediate hurdles at 35.02, ...

, future national record holders. He also long jumped . For his record-setting senior year, David Klech was named the 2005–2006 Gatorade High School Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Klech ran with the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

during his freshman year, 2006–2007. At UCLA, Klech was hampered by injuries. He only competed three times in outdoor track, and none of his marks were close to what he had achieved one year earlier in high school. He was released by UCLA at the end of his freshman year, in June 2007. He then transferred to University of Oregon and sat out (

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

) the 2007–2008 season.

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

At University of Oregon, Klech primarily competed in the

and

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

from 2009–2011. As a fifth year senior, Klech began competing in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

for the first time. Despite his inexperience, he finished 16th in the decathlon at the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships and sixth in the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

at the 2011

NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate indoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Athlete's individual performances earn points for their i ...

. He was named a 2011 Indoor Track & Field

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n in the heptathlon and a 2011 Outdoor Track & Field All-American in the decathlon. An excellent student, Klech was named a Track & Field All-Academic in 2009, 2010, and 2011. He was also named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America Men's Track & Field/Cross Country first team. With a 3.96 GPA, Klech graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 2011. He went on to earn a master's degree in psychology in 2011 and a second master's degree in educational leadership and administration in 2013, both from University of Oregon.

Professional

After graduating from Oregon, Klech placed second in the heptathlon in the 2012 USATF Indoor Combined Events Championships, with 5,809 points. His performance included setting a meet-record time of 2:30.64 in the 1000 meters.

Coaching career

Klech is currently the head track and field and cross country coach at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

, where he focuses on sprints, hurdles, jumps, and multis for both men and women. Kelch formerly spent three years coaching track and field at

Acalanes High School Acalanes High School is a public secondary school located in Lafayette, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, within Contra Costa County. Acalanes was the first of four high schools established in the Acalanes Union High Scho ...

Pleasant Hill, California Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 34,613 at the 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1961. Pleasant Hill is the home of College Park H ...

. Before that, Klech was a volunteer assistant track and field coach at

, where he worked with the men and women on

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

, multis,

throws Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensile l ...

, and

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

References

External links

*
David Klech
profile on All-Athletics
Oregon Ducks bio UCSC Banana Slugs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klech, David 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Walnut Creek, California American male hurdlers American male decathletes Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes Oregon Ducks track and field coaches Track and field athletes from California People from San Ramon, California Sportspeople from Contra Costa County, California UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs cross country coaches Sports coaches from California UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs track and field coaches