Rice University Athletics
Rice University
NCAA Championships
Walsh 17th in NCAA Decathlon
6/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
June 9, 2006
Sacramento, Calif. -
Rice senior Ryan Walsh had a disastrous start to the second day of the decathlon Thursday, but recovered to score 6,482 points and finish 17th at the NCAA track and field championships at Hornet Stadium. Walsh, who was 16th after the first day, was running well in the 110-meter hurdles before he clipped the seventh barrier and fell at the ninth. He got up and tried to clear the final hurdle cleanly, but was disqualified for pushing the hurdle with his hands.
With zero points in the hurdles, Walsh had to battle back in the discus, where he threw 38.56 meters/126-6 for 11th-place. He cleared 4.70/15-5 in the pole vault for fourth-place, and added a 56.13/184-2 in the javelin. In the final event of his Rice career, Walsh raced to a lifetime-best 4:33.32 in the 1500-meters to take fourth and finish the decathlon five places higher than his pre-meet ranking of 22nd.
Pablo Solares, the Conference USA champion for the Owls, fell victim to a slow second heat in the 1500-meters and did not advance to the final. The field went through 800-meters in a pedestrian 2:12.4 before Solares moved to the front and covered the third 400 in 55.8. Despite a 42.4 for the final 300, Solares dropped back to 10th and crossed the line at 3:50.64. His time ranked him 19th overall.
Friday's events include the Owls' Omar Wright in the high jump final and Jason Powell in the qualifying round of the triple jump.
Players Mentioned
