It's hard to appreciate the job that decathletes have until you see it for yourself, but that effort isn't lost on the Cal track and field team.

In virtually every meet he has participated in this season, sophomore decathlete Kyle Mills-Bunje has tried to score in as many events as possible to train for full decathlons later in season. You could see the amusement on his teammates' faces as the inexhaustible decathlete ran across the track in between attempts in the various events.

Because the Bears will not be sending a full squad out this weekend as they prepare for the postseason, all attention is back on the team's most versatile athletes. Mills-Bunje and freshman decathlete Kevin Kuechler, returning from an injury, will compete at the Pac-10 Multi-Event Championships on Saturday and Sunday in Eugene, Ore.

Over the two days of the championships, Mills-Bunje and Kuechler will have to dig deep as they try to get through the 10 events in front of them: the 110m hurdles, 100m and 400m dash, 1500m run, high jump, long jump, shot put, discus and javelin.

Mills-Bunje, who finished seventh last year at Pac-10s, is aiming high for his second full decathlon in the outdoor season.

"I'm shooting for top three," Mills-Bunje said. "That's my goal going into it. I'm feeling pretty good. Practice lately has been going well, so I should do all right."

It shouldn't be too difficult for Mills-Bunje to be in contention to take first, as he has already proved that he can perform on the bigger stage in indoor competition earlier this year. At the MPSF Championships-the indoor conference meet-Mills-Bunje took third in the heptathlon.

"Both (Kyle and Kevin) scored in the MPSF Indoor Championships," coach Tony Sandoval said. "Kyle rates right about third in the Pac-10. Kuechler didn't finish his first decathlon back in March, but hopefully he can finish it this time and score high."

Kuechler will have more than just inexperience going against him this weekend.

"(Kuechler is) coming off of hamstring injuries, so he's gonna try his best, but he might not do as well as he would if he wasn't injured," Mills-Bunje said.

Mills-Bunje, on the other hand, feels pretty confident about his improvement over the last year and will likely settle into the competition with ease.

"My throws have definitely gotten up this year, which will help me," Mills-Bunje said. "And I've also benefitted a lot from my new training."

A recent scheduling change allowed the rest of the Cal team to take the weekend off before getting into Pac-10s next week. The 69th California Invitational, which was slated to kick off on Saturday, was cancelled, and only unattached athletes and redshirts will be competing at the Sacramento State Open on the same day.

Tags: TONY SANDOVAL, CAL TRACK AND FIELD