Taylor Sanderson had a breakout performance for Iowa State’s track and field in the heptathlon at the Bill Bergan Invitational during the weekend.

The redshirt sophomore from Bondurant, Iowa, beat his previous record by 200 points overall and finished second to Kansas State’s senior Devin Dick. Sanderson set personal records in five of the seven events (60m, 60m hurdles, long jump, shot put, pole vault).

“I think that I’m in a pretty good spot right now, but there’s definitely room to improve,” Sanderson said. 

Although Sanderson said he was happy with the score for the event, he hopes to improve in the 1,000-meter run and shot put moving forward to improve his heptathlon score, which is currently No. 15 in the country.

“It shows where he is now, but certainly not where he will be,” said assistant head coach, Fletcher Brooks. “He is still very young in this event, but has a tremendous passion, work capacity, work ethic, loves to train, has a very solid head on his shoulders.

“All those qualities you look for in a combined event athlete, because there are so many ups and downs.”

Focusing on one event isn’t ideal for this type of competition. In the heptathlon, the athlete must be able to compete in all seven events and overcome adversity, Brooks said.

“It really is a power-speed event, and that’s what we train for,” Brooks said.

Sanderson’s work and determination have carried over from high school in Bondurant. A lot of his success as a multi-event athlete has to do with his work capacity and endurance.

Iowa State has a new coaching staff this season after Martin Smith, director of men’s and women’s track and cross country, was hired following the departure of Corey Ihmels. The new staff includes Brooks, who Sanderson has worked closely with. 

“I really enjoyed working with coach Brooks. We’ve changed up the way we train quite a bit,” Sanderson said. “We’ve worked a lot more on speed and power, and that’s helped me out quite a bit, I’ve learned a lot.”

Brooks said as a heptathlete Sanderson is expected to be the jack of all trades, and  the master of none, which isn’t ideal but is important to remain consistent in all events.

Coming off this personal best performance puts Sanderson in the hunt for a top spot in the Big 12.

“I’m definitely hoping to be in the top 3, there’s some pretty good competition coming back,” Sanderson said. “It’s pretty wide open.”

The Bill Bergan Invitational and all other competitions leading in to the Big 12 and NCAA Championships are for evaluating points in the season.

That helps the coaches figure out where the athlete is and acts as a good bench mark, Brooks said.

“There are only two meets that matter to this program” Brooks said of the Big 12s and NCAAs. “These meets are just preparation for the Big 12, and then for those athletes that can get to the NCAA level, fantastic.”