FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Miami's Kevin Dwyer had a bittersweet finish to his collegiate career early Friday morning, earning a career-best point total in the decathlon, but finishing one place short of earning All-American honors. The senior finished the event with 7,453 points, one point better than his previous best.

Dwyer's result hinged on the final race, the 1500-meter run, which is arguably his weakest event. Spurred on by one the highest-scoring decathlons in history, he ran a personal best by almost 15 seconds, 5:01.45, to score 551 points, but his 20th-place finish dropped him to 13th in the overall standings. The top eight Americans earn All-America honors; he was ninth.

"The result is bittersweet." Dwyer said a few minutes after the 11 p.m. (CT) race concluded. "I wanted All-America (status). I felt good the whole day and I was getting decent marks. I needed a big javelin but just didn't get it. Overall, I can't complain."

The Arlington Heights, Ill., native started with a 13th-place finish in the 110 Hurdles. He ran a time of 15.08 seconds to earn 840 points. In the discus, he finished eighth overall. On the first attempt, Dwyer threw 41.11 meters (134-feet, 10-inches). His second throw was 38.14 meters, while his final try reached only 40.86 meters. He added 687 points to his total with the throw.

Dwyer posted his best finish of the day in the pole vault. He tied for sixth with a mark of 6.70 meters (15-feet, 5-inches) for a total of 819 points, moving him into eighth place after eight events.

Dwyer threw the javelin 53.29 meters (174-feet, 10-inches) to score 637 points. He was 11th in the field during that competition, reaching his mark on his second attempt.

"Kevin had a pretty solid meet," Head Coach Warren Mandrell said. "It's just unfortunate that the 1500 is usually his hardest event, so we were hoping for a little more cushion after the javelin. His 1500 was a tremendous effort."