Walburn earns All-American Honors in decathlon

Washington State University senior and Whitefish High School graduate Lee Walburn finished seventh in the nation and captured First-Team All-America honors at the 2024 NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on June 6. 

Walburn posted a career-best mark of 7,816 points, blowing past his previous high mark of 7,694. Thursday began for Walburn much like Wednesday ended, with a personal-best, this time in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in 14.89 seconds to win his heat. Strong showings in the discus, 149-5 to finish fourth overall and a season-best mark of 15-5½ in the pole vault (eigth in the event), continued to push Walburn up from his 11th place spot to start the day. 

Another solid effort came in the javelin, with a best throw of 185-9, fifth in the event and good enough to push Walburn into seventh in the overall standings with one event remaining, the 1500 meters. There, the senior ran a season-best time of 4:38.42 to finish ninth in the event and solidify his seventh-place finish in his final collegiate event. His 7,816 point total eclipsed his previous high by 122 points and marked the second-best mark in program history. After taking two NAIA decathlon titles at Carroll College before transferring to Washington State, Walburn is now WSU's first decathlete All-American since Rickey Moody's first-team honors in 2008 after finishing eighth overall.