DES MOINES, Iowa (6/12/08) ? Arkansas State's B.J. Parish ended his competition Thursday evening in the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships with a 15th-place finish in the decathlon. Parish, a 6-1, 190-pound senior, scored 7,033 points to end the two-day, 10-event competition.

“He had a good meet,” said Head Coach Lon Badeaux. “He had a personal best in the 400-meter dash and the javelin. He did nothing wrong. He came into the meet at 26th and leaves in 15th. That's pretty good. Had he scored what he did at the Sun Belt Conference championships, he still would have finished only 14th.”

Badeaux said Parish finished as the 12th American in the competition and failed to gain All-America status. The top eight American finishers are named All-Americans.

The day got underway for the Malvern native with a 16.05 time in the 110-meter high hurdles. He then threw the discus 137-8 and soared 13-9 1/4 in the pole vault. In the final two events, Parish threw the javelin 170-3 and clocked 4:49.45 in the 1500-meter hurdles.

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