GORHAM – James Spaulding was the complete package in his days as a running back for the Lewiston High School football team.

He could corral a pitch from the quarterback and fly 80 yards, untouched. He would launch himself over a mass of humanity obscuring the all-important plane of the goal line. He had no qualms about barreling ahead and dragging a well-intentioned tackler when it was fourth-and-inches at midfield. And if the coach was in the mood for subterfuge, Spaulding had the arm to drop a halfback option pass onto a dime.

When he shirked a few pigskin offers in favor of the nearby public university that was never quite able to complete its push for a football program, Spaulding figured the cheering had stopped. As it turned out, though, he found the perfect venue to ply his multi-faceted skills and feed his competitive streak.

Spaulding, now a junior at the University of Southern Maine, has developed into one of the top NCAA Division III decathletes in the country.

Southern Maine’s school record in the 10-event showcase has fallen three times over since Spaulding arrived on campus. Spaulding will find out today whether his provisional qualifying score is enough to earn a berth in the Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship this weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

“One thing I like about track is that it is team-oriented,” Spaulding said. “But also with the decathlon, the harder I try, the better individually I get.”

The decathlon has enjoyed flashes of household familiarity over the last four decades, thanks to the legendary Bruce Jenner and the sneaker-commercial tandem of Dave Johnson and Dan O’Brien. Jenner (1976) and O’Brien (1996) won Olympic gold.

Generally speaking, the decathlon is a stretch for most American athletes in this era of specialization. It’s a grueling and diverse competition spread out across two days, beginning with the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters and traditionally concluding with the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500.

“The first day is usually my better day,” Spaulding said.

Well, as his all-around abilities evolve, perhaps that is changing.

In breaking his own USM record at the recent Open New England meet in Durham, N.H., Spaulding set personal records in four of the five second-day events. And the primary reason Spaulding wasn’t 5-for-5 was that he smashed the Southern Maine all-time standard in the remaining event, javelin, at the Holy Cross Decathlon in April.

Spaulding initially set the school decathlon mark with 5,840 points at the 2007 ECAC Championships. He elevated that total to 6,251 points at Holy Cross on April 16-17 and ratcheted it up to 6,286 in the New England meet.

Not bad for somebody who never tackled the decathlon or many of its disciplines until his sophomore year. Decathlon isn’t offered in high school or even at most regular-season collegiate events.

“He came in the first year and ran the 800 and 4×800 relay for us, but then we decided he was a decathlete. Sophomore year he just jumped into it,” said USM coach Scott Hutchinson. “And now he’s ranked 13th in the country.”

Assistant coaches John Berube, Mike Drummey, Kate Kress and Kathleen Nugent each work with Spaulding in their areas of expertise.

Nugent is a former college star in the heptathlon, the seven-event women’s equivalent of the decathlon.

“You learn how to budget your time,” Spaulding said of the commitment to practice all facets of his craft.

Goal-setting and self-motivation are strengths for any decathlete, so it’s no surprise that Spaulding has set the bar sky-high for his senior year and beyond.

Southern Maine’s returning tri-captain would like to increase this year’s 400-plus point improvement in decathlon’s complicated scoring system to quadruple digits next spring. Clearing the 7,600-point threshold would automatically qualify Spaulding for the 2012 Olympic trials.

“I’d have to make up about 100 points in every event. Like in the 100 meters, even one-tenth of a second is 10 points,” Spaulding said. “The faster I get and the more I build endurance, I think it’s possible.”

His coach wouldn’t bet against it.

“He has the dedication and the discipline. We always tell our athletes that if you believe you can do something, do it,” Hutchinson said. “You don’t want to get to be 30 years old and look back and say would’ve, could’ve, should’ve.”