Ten events, one athlete: Foglesong has sights set on 40-year-old Fighting Scots record
Freshman from Ipava is a product of VIT/South Fulton
Monmouth, Ill. (03/27/2026) — Other than a time of 1:03.8 in the rarely contested hurdle shuttle, the oldest mark in Monmouth College's men's outdoor track and field record book is 6,623. That's neither a time nor a distance, but, rather, the amount of points that Roger Well scored in the decathlon in 1985.
You remember the decathlon. Leading up to the 1992 Olympics, Reebok's "Dan and Dave" advertising campaign highlighted decathletes Dan O'Brien and Dave Johnson. Bruce Jenner famously won the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics, setting a world record and then waving an American flag in celebration during the same month that the United States observed its bicentennial.
Now it's 50 years later, America is about to turn 250, and Fighting Scots freshman Kaden Foglesong has his sights set on making a little decathlon history of his own. Specifically, Foglesong would love to put his name atop Monmouth's record book, ending Well's four-decade reign at the top.
"I'd love to meet that guy," said Foglesong, who came to Monmouth from Ipava, Illinois, with an impressive and highly decorated athletic resume that included scoring 1,000 points in basketball (without the benefit of a single three-point attempt, let alone a make), accumulating nearly 1,800 all-purpose yards in football, and earning a pair of All-State honors in track.
The all-purpose descriptor is apt, as the 6-foot-3 Foglesong played all over the field for the South Fulton co-op, lining up primarily as a running back and defensive end his senior year. Playing for the Fighting Scots last fall, he was second team All-Midwest Conference as a special teamer. Meanwhile, his specialty event in track requires both speed and jumping ability.
If Foglesong figures out how to go the distance, he might just go the distance in pursuit of the Monmouth mark and the other decathlon goals he has in mind.
The decathlon, explained
So what, exactly, is the decathlon? As Monmouth classics professor Bob Simmons would be quick to point out, its etymology is the Greek words for "ten" and "contests." Simmons would also say it's been around since, oh, 708 B.C. or so, when "Olympians" did a five-event pentathlon. Incredibly, four of the five ancient pentathlon events have stood the test of time and are in the modern decathlon. The exception is wrestling.
The standard track and field events for the modern decathlon include sprinting (100- and 400-meter dash), throwing (shot put, discus and javelin), jumping (long and high), hybrid events (the 110-meter hurdles and the pole vault) and distance running (1500-meter run, which is just short of a mile).
As it happens, Foglesong is an elite hurdler, bringing home the aforementioned All-State honors while competing for VIT/South Fulton, where he was a seven-time state qualifier. At his very first Midwest Conference meet, Foglesong scored points in the hurdles (covering 60 meters in 8.67), as well as the high jump and the pole vault (clearing 5'10-3/4 and 11'9-3/4, respectively). The collective effort earned him the MWC's Newcomer of the Year honor.
So Foglesong is quite good at the hybrid events, and he can jump and sprint at a pretty high level. Another way to look at it is that he's fast, strong and springy. But just as the mythological Greek warrior Achilles had a weakness in his heel, Foglesong has an area he really needs to shore up - the 1500-meter run.
"My hurdles are pretty good, my sprinting and the pole vault are solid, and I'm decent at the long jump, high jump and shot put," said Foglesong. "I struggle with distance. In the heptathlon (seven events), it's 1,000 meters, and in the decathlon, it's the 1500."
Deciding on Monmouth
Foglesong's high school track coach, Brittany Murray, and her husband, Ben, helped plant the seed for him to be a decathlete.
"She was a heptathlete in college," said Fogleson. "I was virtually doing it already in high school with all the events I competed in. Her husband coached the team, too, and they both mentioned that it would be worth pursuing," although it was not an event at the IHSA state meet.
The decathlon was very much on Foglesong's mind when he made a visit to Monmouth's campus.
"I remember on my visit, sitting in this very room (the Bobby Woll Room that overlooks Glennie Gym), talking with Coach (Tanner) Johnson about it," he said. "He was ecstatic that I was interested in it. I'm the first one in a long time to do it here. Honestly, it was a big reason I chose here, knowing I had the support to do it."
That support includes what Foglesong calls "phenomenal coaching."
"What it takes most of all is effort," he replied when asked what goes into making an elite decathlete. "But it also takes phenomenal coaching, which we have here at Monmouth. Coach Johnson has a phenomenal workout plan for me. One of the things he tells me is to focus on compartmentalizing the events and on what I have to do. You've got to focus on what you're doing in the moment. You can't be worrying about your hurdle form when you're in the middle of high jumping."
Multi-talented
Johnson was asked what helps a decathlete excel, beyond elite athleticism.
"Elite multis always have three things in common," he said. "The biggest is coachability. When an athlete has to learn seven events indoor and then 10 outdoor, they have to be coachable to learn and progress quickly."
The others, he said, are discipline and self-motivation.
"They have to be hungry to get better in every aspect of being an athlete. Not just training but their nutrition, sleep, recovery, time management, etc. The beauty of the multis is that it isn't looked at as 'you against me' in competition. You are competing against yourself in every aspect. It's based off points per event rather than a time or mark. Every point matters, and just a little here and there goes a long way."
Johnson said Foglesong checks those boxes.
"Kaden has all the qualities that make a great multi. He's very young and is still learning and progressing. I believe athletically he is capable of anything. I see him in the future representing Monmouth on the national stage."
Looking ahead, Foglesong plans to launch his collegiate decathlon career next month.
"I will possibly compete at Central College April 9-10 or at the Augustana Meet of Champions (the following week) depending on the weather," he said. "The Drake Relays (April 23-25) and any other meets after that are all depending on weather and my ranking nationally."
If he needs additional workout ideas, Foglesong can turn to the University of Oregon's Peyton Bair, who's fresh off an NCAA indoor title in the heptathlon, where his 6,503 points are the sixth-best mark all-time.
"I track a lot of his stuff," said Foglesong. "He just set the Oregon record. I really look up to him. He runs a sub-7-second 60, he high jumps 6'8, and he pole vaults 15 feet. It really does take the ultimate athlete - you've got to be able to do a little bit of everything. I didn't realize how much of a challenge it would be. There's a lot of long practices and long nights."
But the business administration major is smart enough to know that putting in that challenging work is the way he'll achieve his goals.
"I hope to say I'm an All-American," said Foglesong, who believes that the addition of Luther College to the MWC might move the conference to add the decathlon. "But before that, I'd like to score for the team at conference and help us win the conference title - that's the main thing, the team's success."
At last year's NCAA Division III outdoor meet, the All-American threshold was 6,464 points. Over the next four outdoor seasons, if Foglesong is able to score that many, he might as well score another couple hundred and top Well's longstanding mark.
In addition to hoping that the decathlon gets added as an official MWC event, Foglesong is hoping for an academic addition at Monmouth. He would love to see the administration's current talks about the possibility of an agribusiness major come to fruition. Fall is for football, winter and spring are for track, but when summer rolls around, Foglesong has literally gotten an ag spraying business off the ground, utilizing drones. He has a set of clients lined up for the summer, making him a candidate to not only be a decathlon recordholder, but one of Monmouth's "Midwest Entrepreneurs," as well.
Media Attachments
KADEN FOGLESONG: The freshman scored in three events at his first Midwest Conference meet. The idea moving forward is to rack up a big score in the 10 events that comprise the decathlon.
HE'S GOT SOME HURDLES TO CLEAR: But that's OK, because that's Foglesong's signature event. He was a two-time All-State hurdler in high school.
LAUNCH SEQUENCE INITIATED: Foglesong prepares to clear the bar in the pole vault during the Roger Haynes Invitational in February.
Monmouth College
Barry McNamara 309-457-2117, mcnamara@monmouthcollege.eduShare this Story
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