Walker Finishes Runner-Up, Hurley Places Third at GNAC Combined Events Championships

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- JJ Walker and Jenelle Hurley carried the momentum from their solid starts on Monday right into a strong finish Tuesday with Walker placing second in the decathlon and Hurley third in the heptathlon as the Western Oregon University men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Combined Events Championships on the campus of Central Washington.

Walker's point total of 6,584 points puts him sixth on the all-time list in program history in the decathlon. Hurley's point total of 4,519 is her second-best of the season and was just off her personal-best of 4,596 points set earlier this season at the same Central Washington venue during the Multis in April which also leaves her sixth in program history in the heptathlon.

Walker had a trio of top-three finishes on Tuesday to make his push for the runner-up spot. He started the day coming in fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 16.19. He then won the discus with a throw of 115-1. It was another solid showing for Walker in the pole vault when he hit a height of 14-9 to come in second. He closed the day placing sixth in the 1,500 with a new season-best time of 4:49.90. Central Washington's Braydon Maier won the decathlon with 6,776 points, while Walker just held off Maier's teammate Ryan Thoma of CWU by four points as Thoma came in third with 6,580 points.

Hurley put together a solid heptahlon opening the day in the long jump reaching a distance of 17-05.25 to place fourth. She then added another fourth-place finish in the javelin hitting a distance of 101-07 and then finished the day coming in seventh in the 800-meter with a time of 2:38.05. Seattle Pacific's Renick Meyer won the heptathlon with 4,903 points to hold off Alaska Anchorage's Elena Cano in second with 4,855 points.

Joining Walker in the decathlon was Deshaun Stevens and Jake Thompson. Stevens came in eighth with 5,460 points and Thompson placed 10th with 4,687 points.

It was a new season-high in the event for Stevens as he opened Tuesday crossing with a time of 17.21 in the 110-meter hurdles for a new season-best mark to place ninth. He added a ninth place finish in both the discus and pole vault. In the javelin, he came in 10th and then closed the championships coming in third in the 1,500 with a time of 4:45.57.

Thompson also set a new season-high in the event as he opened Tuesday coming in with a new season-best time of 18.64 in the 110-meter hurdles to place 10th. He tallied a new season-best throw in the discus to come in eighth and after placing 10th in the pole vault, he had a strong showing in the javelin with a new season-best mark of 137-10 to come in third. He closed the day placing 10th in the 1,500.

Joining Hurley in the heptathlon was Amity Deters who placed ninth with 3,740 points and Makenzie Smith who placed 11th with 2,970 points.

It was a new season-high point total for Deters as she opened the day Tuesday coming in sixth in the long jump with a distance of 16-06 for a new season-best mark. After placing 10th in the javelin, Deters closed the day with a new season-best time in the 800 crossing at 2:44.47 to come in eighth.

Smith hit a new season-best mark in the long jump when she hit a distance of 16-7 to start out Tuesday coming in fifth. She then placed seventh in the javelin to finish the day as Smith didn't compete in the 800.

WOU will have a small squad competing at both the Frank Haskins Invitational this Thursday and the Oregon Twilight this Friday to close out the week.

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Players Mentioned

Jenelle Hurley: Sophomore; FR

Makenzie Smith: Senior; JR

Amity Deters: Freshman; FR

Deshaun Stevens: Senior; JR

Jake Thompson: Sophomore; FR

JJ Walker: Junior; JR/JR

Players Mentioned

Jenelle Hurley
: Sophomore; FR

Makenzie Smith
: Senior; JR

Amity Deters
: Freshman; FR

Deshaun Stevens
: Senior; JR

Jake Thompson
: Sophomore; FR

JJ Walker
: Junior; JR/JR