Walburn takes NAIA outdoor decathlon title
Carroll College junior Lee Walburn won his second consecutive outdoor decathlon title at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Gulf Shores, Ala. on Thursday, May 26. Walburn, a Whitefish High School graduate, won the outdoor decathlon title in 2021 and was second at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships in March 2022. (Photo courtesy Carroll College Athletics)
GULF SHORES, Ala. — Lee Walburn of Whitefish has doubled up as NAIA outdoor decathlon national champion, bringing home gold for Carroll College for a second time Thursday.
The sophomore began the second day of competition in first place, slipped to third with a seventh-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles, and then closed strong at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium.
He cleared a career-high height of 15 feet, 1 inch to win the pole vault, in between second place finishes in the discus (136-5) and the javelin (178-2). The victory in the vault was his fourth of the competition. On Friday he won the 100 meters (11.15 seconds), shot put (43-1) and 400 (49.48 seconds).
According to Daniel Shepard of 406mtsports.com, Walburn was back in first after the discus, and led by 346 points heading into the 1,500 meters.
He finished seventh there, but had too big of a lead for anyone, including Eastern Oregon’s TJ Davis, to make up. Walburn repeated as champion while Davis, who edged Walburn for the NAIA Indoor Decathlon in March in Brookings, S.D., took second.
Nikki Krueger, a Glacier High graduate and Carroll senior, closed out her college career with a throw of 45 feet, 5 3/4 inches for fourth place in women's shot put, also earning her All-American status for the third time.