Column: Walburn finds his stride in the Palouse

Lee Walburn found a gem in the Palouse, as people call the area around Washington State University in Pullman.

You might assume it was the other way around but Walburn, after two seasons as a multi-event athlete for NAIA Carroll College, was the one reaching out to the next level.

“I emailed probably close to 50 schools in NCAA, from Cal to Alabama,” the Whitefish High School product said. “I was rejected a lot — by almost every other Pac-12 school. There were questions about transferring credits, and the biggest thing was trying to find a scholarship to help me pay for school.”

The key word there is, “almost.” Derrick Hinch, associate head coach for Washington State track and field, was more than intrigued.

“I remember I talked to Coach Hinch, and the dude was incredibly passionate,” Walburn said. “You can tell when somebody wants you and believes in your potential.

“They were the one school that truly wanted me. The crazy thing is I stayed here this past summer, and I started on the track around 8 or 9 in the morning and wouldn’t get home until 5:30 or 6. He ran and trained with me every single day.”

It’s a connection that has paid off. At the Texas Relays on March 27 Walburn, a 23-year-old senior, finished second in the men’s decathlon with 7,694 points. That ranked him No. 2 in all of NCAA, with Olympic team front-runner Leo Neugebauer of Texas in first at 8,708.

It was a career high, and along the way Walburn set personal records in the javelin (he won it at 201 feet), the discus (third at 157-4) and long jump (fifth at 22-1).

The bad news is, well, for that we have to go back to Feb. 3 and the New Mexico College Classic — where, it should be said, the 220-pound, 6-foot-4 Walburn was crushing it.

“PR’d my first four events,” he said. “Then I PR’d in the hurdles on day 2 and ended up pulling my groin.”

He competed sparingly with an eye toward rehabilitation from there, and said he felt 95 percent going into the Texas Relays. The 110-meter hurdles, as usual, were on Day 2.

“Ticked it off again,” Walburn said. “Fourth hurdle. It didn’t affect javelin and discus but the pole vault, that was affected. A little bit frustrating.”

So it is that Walburn was easing back onto the track last week for some 400 work, with the goal of being 100 percent by the time the NCAA Outdoor championships begin June 5. Because, as Walburn will tell you, he’s left some points out there.

“Lost 100 in the 1,500, 100 in the vault. … “I couldn’t get that 15 foot bar,” he said. “I just didn’t mentally execute.”

Which is fuel for the next competition, of course.

Two years ago, frustrated with the facilities and competition at the NAIA level, he made the difficult decision to leave Carroll — and head coach Harry Clark, who saw the potential in the Whitefish Bulldog before he himself did. “I had no idea what the decathlon was,” Walburn remembered. 

Now he’s making plans for Hayward Field.

The top 24 decathlon scores qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships at the University of Oregon. Since March 27 three athletes have scored more than Walburn’s 7,694, leaving him in fifth. 

“I believe I’ll drop to the teens by the time of the NCAAs,” he said. “It’s stressful. I don’t know if I’ll let myself believe it until I make it.”

The odds are good because Walburn made them that way. Now the sky, and by that we mean the Olympics, is the limit.

“The cool thing about Texas and hitting some of those throwing marks, is I have all the marks to hit over an 8,000-point score,” he said. “I just need to get more consistent. I’m still so young in this event. It’s allowed me to say, ‘OK, you have the ability to pursue it.’ “

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 406-758-4463 or at fneighbor @dailyinterlake.com.