MONMOUTH, Ore. – There was excitement in the air around McArthur Field on Tuesday as the Western Oregon University men's and women's track and field teams officially returned to competition as they hosted the WOU Multi.
With the last competition taking place over a year ago, the Wolves were ready competing in both the heptathlon and decathlon.
On the men's side, JJ Walker made a strong debut with the Wolves as the transfer from Concordia (OR) he currently sits in second in the decathlon through the first five events tallying 3,420 points. He finished in the top-three in each event, winning the high jump hitting a top mark of 6-04.25. Walker finished second in both the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.54 and in the shot-put throwing to a mark of 36-09.50. He came in third in both the long jump hitting a distance of 21-00 and in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.73.
Deshaun Stevens is currently third in the decathlon with 2,944 points. He finished second in the long jump hitting a mark of 21-02.50 and came in third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.98. Stevens placed fourth in both the high jump with a mark of 5-08 and in the 400-meter with a time of 53.12. He added a throw of 25-08 in the shot-put to place fifth.
Jake Thompson is currently fifth in the decathlon with 2,695 points. He came in third in the shot-put hitting a distance of 33-11.25. In the long jump he reached a mark of 20-01.00 to come in fourth. Thompson placed fifth in both the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.30 and in the high jump reaching a mark of 5-02.25. He closed the first day running in the 400-meter dash crossing with a time of 56.65 to come in sixth.
Overall, seven entered in the decathlon with Central Washington's Ryan Thoma leading the way with 3,537 points, just ahead of Walker.
On the women's side, WOU had five enter in the heptathlon with Jenelle Hurley leading the way for the Wolves currently in sixth after four events with 2,462 total points. She posted a top-three finish in the high jump hitting a mark of 5-02.25 to place third. She added a throw of 29-06 in the shot-put to come in fifth. Hurley ran to a time of 27.13 in the 200-meter dash to place seventh and hit a time of 17.10 in the 100-meter hurdles to come in eighth.
Ana Popchock is right behind Hurley in seventh with 2,397 total points. She collected a pair of top-five finishes in both the 100-meter hurdles clocking a time of 15.49 to come in fifth and in the 200-meter dash sprinting to a time of 26.91 to also place fifth. In the high jump, Popchock hit a mark of 4-07.00 to place ninth and added a throw of 25-08 in the shot-put to come in 12th.
Makenzie Smith is in 10th after the first day with 2,179 total points. She went right to the end in the high jump hitting a mark of 5-02.25 to place third. Smith added a throw of 27-08 in the shot-put to come in eighth. She then ran to a time of 17.95 in the 100-meter hurdles to place 10th and to a time of 29.11 in the 200-meter dash to come in 11th.
Amity Deters competed in her first collegiate meet with the Wolves as she is currently 11th with 2,075 total points. She had a strong showing in the high jump coming through with a mark of 4-11.75 to place seventh. In the shot-put she threw to a mark of 26-04.50 to come in 10th. Deters then ran to a time of 28.25 in the 200-meter dash to place 10th and to a time of 18.71 in the 100-meter hurdles to place 11th.
Logan Jackson tallied 891 points to sit 12th after the first day. She hit a mark of 25-09.50 in the shot-put to place 11th, hit a mark of 4-00 in the high jump to place 12th and ran to a time of 21.80 in the 100-meter hurdles to place 12th. Jackson didn't finish in the 200-meter dash.
It was a tough field in the decathlon with four of Oregon State's five athletes ranking in the top-five. Central Washington's McCall DeChenne is currently fifth and leads the competitors from Division II, just ahead of Hurley. OSU's Delaney Bahn leads the way with 2,872 points, just ahead of teammate Anneke Moersdorf in second with 2,760 points.
The second and final day of the WOU Multi will continue tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9:30 a.m. Live results will once again be available and can be found here.
