SOARING TO SUCCESS: Princeton University men’s track star ­Stephen Soerens soars through the air on a long jump. Last month, senior star Soerens took first place in the decathlon at the Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Track and Field Championships to help Princeton clinch the team title. This week, he is headed to the NCAA championships in Eugene to make his debut performance at the meet. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

Stephen Soerens took an immediate liking to the decathlon.

Taking his first stab at the grueling 10-event competition as a sophomore at Fayetteville High, Soerens excelled in the 2009 Arkansas decathlon.

“I came in fourth, that surprised me,” said Soerens. “I realized I was actually good at this and I enjoyed the experience.”

Soerens went on to place second in the next two Arkansas decathlons and the Princeton University men’s track coach Fred Samara, a former U.S. Olympic decathlon competitor, apparently realized how good he was.

“Fred called me on the first day of recruiting on July 1 before my senior year of high school,” recalled Soerens.

“I liked him. I had seen and liked Princeton from recruiting materials. It was definitely a big thing that he had that decathlon experience. By September, I realized that was what I wanted to do and I committed. I did a visit in early December and I liked it a lot.”

Coming to Princeton in the fall of 2011, Soerens steadily progressed under Samara’s tutelage. He placed third in the decathlon in the 2012 Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Track and Field Championships and then took second the next two years. Last month, he took first at the Heps decathlon to help Princeton clinch the team title.

This week, he is headed to the NCAA championships in Eugene, Ore. to make his debut performance at the national meet. He will be joined by five teammates at the NCAA competition, including senior Sam Pons in the 10,000, junior star and defending national champion Julia Ratcliffe in the hammer throw, junior Cecilia Barowski in the 800, sophomore Lizzie Bird in the steeplechase, and sophomore Megan Curham in the 10,000.

In his freshman year at Princeton, Soerens sensed that he could end up as a title contender in his event.

“It was definitely different; track immediately became a bigger thing for me,” said Soerens.

“It was important in high school, I spent at lot of time on it but this was different. I was thinking about it all the time and I was surrounded by good talent. I had older guys to practice with and I was able to hold my own. I was third outdoors as a freshman and I thought I can make my way to the best in the league.”

After taking second in the next two Heps decathlons, Soerens was primed for a big senior season.

“I think I had made a lot of progress,” said Soerens. “I was in position to bring up my athleticism.”

But Soerens experienced a setback as he competed in the heptathlon in the Indoor Heps.

“I had some hamstring issues; on my first step of the 60 something popped in my right hamstring,” recalled Soerens.

“I didn’t have serious damage. I just trotted through the jumps and threw the shot really well. It was a long recovery, I built up steadily. I was trying to make sure that I was both ready to go by Heps and that I had more resiliency. I came back gradually; the training staff helped a lot.”

Showing resilience, Soerens pulled out a dramatic victory in the Heps decathlon this May at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. With Princeton narrowly trailing Cornell in the team standings, the meet came down to the decathlon and the battle between Soerens and Big Red star Austin Jamerson.

“The fear of a decathlete is that decathlon will be the last event to finish and it will come down to 1500,” said Soerens.

“Everyone runs it hard but when you have done nine events, you don’t want to depend on that. You have a lot of fast twitch athletes and they are not used to that.”

After a big throw in the javelin to increase his lead over Jamerson, Soerens sealed the deal by taking first in the 1,500, the final event of the day. Soerens ended up with a winning total of 7,319 points with Jamerson second in 7,070. His heroics clinched a narrow 163-159.5 win for Princeton over the Big Red.

“I wanted to give it my best shot, it was a great feeling, my family was there, my teammates were all there,” said Soerens, reflecting on his triumph. “I had wanted that first place for two years, that was great.”

Qualifying for the NCAAs as one of the top 24 decathletes in the country this year, Soerens is hoping for a great performance at Eugene.

“The preparation has gone really well,” said Soerens. “We are doing short-focused training blocks, good workouts but not so much to wear you down. We tapered for Heps, this is not quite a taper. It is working on speed and some fine points on jumps and throws. One of the things I am excited about is that this is my meet in terms of being able to go for it. At Heps, there is a little extra caution, you need to complete it for the team. It should be a lot of fun, I have never been out there.”

In reflecting on his Princeton career, Soerens said it has been a lot of fun training and competing with his teammates.

“I think one of the most important things is that we have a really tight-knit group of guys,” said Soerens.

“It is a team that is especially close. I am rooming with some of the distance guys. It has been a great experience to be able to train with guys who are so committed to track and so talented.”

It has also been a great experience for Soerens to work with decathlon guru Samara.

“I got to spend a couple of hours a day, five days a week with him,” said Soerens, noting that he thrived on Samara’s training system which typically revolves around hard running workouts, the pole vault, and sprint starts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with Tuesdays and Thursdays devoted to throwing events and aerobic training.

“We have a great relationship. He has all that experience. He goes through the technical things in practice and gives you cues. He is also able to present things in a different light and that can really be helpful.”

Looking ahead, Soerens is hoping to experience more in his decathlon career.

“I would like to keep training for at least another year,” said Soerens, a civil and environmental engineering major who sees himself someday working in a job on an oilfield.

“I have a short window; I figure I might as well try to make that happen. If I like it and things are going well, I will keep doing it. If not, I won’t have any regrets. It is not a thing you can stop doing for a couple of years and then start up again.”