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Rice University
Conference USA Championships
Walsh Wins Decathlon, Qualifies for NCAA Meet
5/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
May 13, 2006
El Paso -
Ryan Walsh had the meet of his life as he increased his personal-best by more than 400 points and won the decathlon with a score of 7,196 points to qualify for the NCAA national meet on the second day of the Conference USA track and field championships Friday at Kidd Field.
Walsh, whose previous best score was 6,777 in 2005, raced to a 4:42.02 win in the final event, the 1500-meters, and added a win in the pole vault with a 4.70 meters/15-5 clearance. He trailed Houston's Jarrett Flax by 118-points going into the 1500, but beat Flax by more than a minute to claim his third straight conference multi-event title. Walsh won the C-USA indoor heptathlon gold in February and was the WAC decathlon champion last year.
On the track, Charles Hampton moved into third place with less than 1000-meters to go and held on to win bronze in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:37.67. Colby Keithan clocked 9:57.42 for sixth behind Hampton.
The Owls are third after the second day with 36 points. Houston leads with 80, and UTEP is second with 62.
Field event points also came from Devon Fanfair, who placed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 7.11/23-4. Marcus Rucker was ninth in the shot put at 14.05/46-1.25.
Pablo Solares was the fastest qualifier in the 800-meters, winning the second heat in 1:49.01, and three other Owls also advanced to finals in their running events. Bahnsen Miller raced to a 48.56 in the 400-meters, while Eric Spear moved on in the 400 hurdles with a 55.23. Tyler Whitham had a lifetime-best 14.53 in the 110 hurdles, the third-fastest time in the prelims.
Saturday's events start at 4:30 pm with the discus.
Players Mentioned
