Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
WAC Outdoor Championships
Decathletes Dominate at WAC
5/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
May 14, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State's decathletes made Friday a day for the `Dogs.
Matt Bushnell maintained his position through the second day of competition, to finish second at the WAC Outdoor Championships. Evan Young and David Deal both stepped up their game Friday moving into third and sixth, respectively.
On the women's side, long jumper Erica Embry stepped up for the team, taking eighth in the heptathlon to earn a point for the women's team score.
"They fought hard today," said head coach Scott Winsor. "I told them going in, it's not about scores, heights, distances, or times, it's about competing against people and they did that."
Bushnell, a sophomore from Fair Oaks, Calif., nabbed the second place finish in the decathlon with 6,549 points. Young, the recently named Bulldog of the Year, accumulated 6,448 points to earn the bronze. Deal rounded out Fresno State's performance in the decathlon with 6,166 points for sixth.
The decathlon competitors opened the day with the 110-meter hurdles. Young, who specialized in the high hurdles until becoming a decathlete as a freshman, earned a third place finish with a 14.97-second finish. Deal took fifth with Bushnell in sixth both finishing in personal-best times.
"Evan ran very well in the event," said Winsor. "He was running against himself in his heat, which is not helpful when you're racing the clock. But that's the luck of the draw. Matt and David both did a great job of chasing people ahead of them to work their times."
The discus found the Bulldogs in the middle of the pack, but the `Dogs roared back to life in the following event, the pole vault. Deal and Young both cleared 14 feet, 1.25 inches (4.30 meters) to finish in second. Bushnell vaulted to fifth place.
"Neither the pole vault nor the discus went as well as the guys wanted them to go," said Winsor. "You're going to have those events in the decathlon and you just take it stride and move on to the next event. That's what they did all day long."
The trio rode their success in the pole vault into the ninth event, the javelin. In his first throw of the day,. Young threw a career-best 171-6 (52.27m) for second, while Deal and Bushnell each had big throws to take third and fourth, respectively.
In the final endurance test, the Bulldogs again went 2-3-4. Deal picked up another second place finish, leading Bushnell and Young to third and fourth.
Overall, the men acquired 15 points toward the team total, to take the lead as the teams head into the third day of the WAC Championship. The Bulldogs lead Utah State by a point, with the other teams more than 10 points back.
"They fought hard for two days and did really well," said Winsor. "Evan laid everything on the line today. For him to come back from knee surgery last year and be a decathlete at this level, it's remarkable. He is an inspiration to our team.
And Matt and David get to come back for two more years. They did a great job and still have room to improve, something they are excited about."
Embry, the Bulldog's lone competitor in the heptathlon, continued to battle Friday.
"Erica has not trained for the heptathlon, she's a long jumper," said Winsor. "Erica did great. She's a senior who wanted to help the team in any way she could. She came in here, competed hard and scored a point for us.
And that's the name of the game."
Embry showed tenacity throughout the day's three events, placing eighth. The finish gave the Bulldogs one point as they enter Friday's individual events.
"Everybody is excited and ready to go into tomorrow's events," said Winsor after the team meeting Thursday. "The whole team is here and ready to compete. This team has stuck with it through a lot over the last year and we're ready."
Competition resumes on Friday afternoon, beginning with the men's hammer throw at 11:30 p.m. PT. The finals of the men's and women's steeplechase get underway at 1 p.m. PT.
Follow Fresno State in the WAC Championships at wac.org/otf/2009/index.htm.
Players Mentioned
