Wanamaker was a top ten U.S. decathlete from 1970 to 1974. He was the 1970 NCAA national champion and an
All-American in
decathlon, the 1971 AAU National Champion in decathlon, with a score of 7989, and was the
1971 gold medalist in decathlon at the
Pan American Games with a score of 7648. He was injured prior to the 1972 Munich Olympic trials, and did not qualify for the
1972 Summer Olympics. He did defeat
Mykola Avilov, the 1972 Olympic Champion, during the 1971
USA–USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series, held in Berkeley, California and Bruce Jenner, the 1976 Olympic Champion, now known as Caitlyn Jenner, at the 1971 Drake Relays and 1971 National AAU Championships in Porterville, California. Wanamaker placed fifth at the
1970 Summer Universiade Men's decathlon in Turin, Italy. Wanamaker is one of the tallest successful decathletes, at 6'-8", 210 lbs. in 1971. Wanamaker finished second to Dick Fosbury, the 1968 Olympic high jump Champion, by 1 inch, at the 1969 Drake Relays. A photograph of Rick Wanamaker running in the 1970 NCAA Championships at Drake University, taken by
Jeff Jacobsen, was named the National Press Photographer’s Association best sports photo of the year. ==Basketball==