MONMOUTH, Ore. – Following up a strong start to the 2021 outdoor season, the Western Oregon University men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up the WOU Multi on Wednesday putting together several top performances.
JJ Walker won the decathlon moving from second to the top spot over the final five events on Wednesday. Deshaun Stevens placed third and Jake Thompson added a fifth-place finish. On the women's side, Jenelle Hurley, Ana Popchock and Amity Deters stayed right with the loaded field that featured several athletes from Oregon State. Hurley placed sixth, Popchock seventh and Deters ninth overall after the final three events of the heptathlon.
Walker dominated on the final day to move up from the second spot on Tuesday as he finished with 6,432 points to run away from second-place Central Washington's Ryan Thoma by 914 points. His point total is already an NCAA Division II Provisional mark in the decathlon. Over the final five events, Walker won both the discus and pole vault, placed second in the javelin and 110-meter hurdles, before finishing the event coming in fifth in the 1,500.
Walker had an impressive showing in the pole vault clearing a top mark of 14-03.25 (4.35m), which already puts him close to previous NCAA Division II Provisional marks in the event from previous years that stood at 4.80 and 4.81. Right before the pole vault, he finished strong in the discus as on his final throw he hit a top distance of 114-01 to win the event. Walker started Wednesday placing second in the 110-meter hurdles racing to a time of 16.38. He capped his first meet with the Wolves coming in fifth in the 1,500 crossing with a time of 5:09.46. For the entire meet, Walker placed in the top-three in nine of the 10 events, winning three.
Stevens posted a solid third-place finish coming away with 4,889 points. He came away with strong results in the 1,500, discus and pole vault collecting top-three finishes in each event. Stevens closed the meet in style coming in second in the 1,500 with a time of 4:38.98. He also closed the discus throw strong earlier in the day as he saved his top throw for last of 76-10 to come in third. He added another third-place result in the pole vault clearing 10-00. Stevens started the day coming in sixth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 21.91 and hit a mark of 107-04 in the javelin to come in fifth, also saving his best throw for the final attempt. Stevens collected five top-three finishes over the two days.
Thompson came in fifth with 4,516 points, putting together impressive showings in both the pole vault and javelin on Wednesday. In the pole vault, Thompson continued to set new personal-best marks as he was able to clear 11-03.75 to place second overall. In the javelin, as it turned out, his first throw would be his best when he hit a mark of 124-10 to come in third. Thompson opened the day coming in fifth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 21.49. He hit a mark of 62-06 in the discus to place fifth and finished the meet coming in sixth in the 1,500 with a time of 5:21.60. Over the two days, Thompson posted three finishes in the top-three.
Overall in the men's decathlon, seven total athletes were entered, with six finishing as in addition to the WOU student-athletes, Central Washington had three entries.
On the women's side, Hurley kept her spot in sixth after the three events on Wednesday to come away with 4,045 points. She posted some strong jumps in the long jump, improving from the second to the final jump that she hit a distance of 16-11.50 to place fourth. After that, Hurley continued with the momentum right into the javelin hitting a mark of 89-11 in her middle throw to place third. She then finished the day coming in sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:42.07. Over the two days, Hurley collected three top-four finishes in the seven events.
Popchock also remained in the same position from day one as she ended up seventh with 3,940 points. She was consistent across the board competing in her first heptathlon. Popchock posted a pair of fourth-place finishes in the javelin and 800. In the javelin, her final toss was the best hitting a distance of 89-09. In the 800, Popchock was able to stay consistent throughout before crossing with a time of 2:36.57. To start the day, she hit a mark of 15-08.75 during her middle jump in the long jump to place seventh. Over the two days, Popchock tallied four top-five finishes.
Competing in her first collegiate meet, Amity Deters came in ninth with 3,312 points. She ended up placing ninth in all three events on Wednesday. Deters opened the day hitting a mark of 15-06.25 in the long jump on her first attempt. In the javelin, she hit a mark of 68-04 during her middle throw and then finished the day in the 800 posting a time of 2:51.76.
Makenzie Smith was able to compete in the first two events of the day posting a strong throw of 88-09 in the javelin to come in sixth and started the day in the long jump hitting a mark of 15-02.25 to come in 10th.
Overall in the women's heptathlon, 12 athletes were entered, with nine completing the entire seven events. In addition to the WOU student-athletes, Oregon State had five entries and Central Washington had two. OSU's Anneke Moersdorf just held off CWU's McCall DeChenne for the top spot finishing with 4,477 points, just 71 points ahead of DeChenne.
WOU will return to action this coming Saturday when they will travel down the road to compete at the PNW Team Clash that will take place at Oregon State.
