Tuesday, May 4, 2021

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Good things come to those who wait. And to those with strong second days.

Four years after winning their first GNAC Combined Events Championships titles, Central Washington senior Braydon Maier and Seattle Pacific junior Renick Meyer emerged again as the decathlon and heptathlon champions on Tuesday at Central Washington’s Recreation Sports Complex.

A pair of strong second-day performances provided the duo their first titles since 2018. Maier won the decathlon with a score of 6,776 points. He used first-place finishes in three of the five second-day events, the 110-meter hurdles, the pole vault and the 1,500 meters, to pull ahead well ahead of first-day leader and freshman teammate Ryan Thoma.

Western Oregon junior JJ Walker finished second with 6,584 points while Thoma placed third with 6,580 points.

Much like Maier in the decathlon, Meyer won two of the three second-day events to pull clear of first-day leader Elena Cano of Alaska Anchorage to win the heptathlon with a score of 4,903 points. Meyer won both the long jump and javelin and closed the day with a fourth-place finish in the 800 meters.

Cano placed second with 4,855 points with Western Oregon freshman Jenelle Hurley finishing third with 4,519 points.

The second day featured two of Maier’s specialties, the 110-meter hurdles and the pole vault, which set up the surge to the title. Maier opened the day by clocking a time of 15.26 seconds in the hurdles before taking fourth in the discus with a mark of 101 feet, 8 inches. In the pole vault, Maier had six inches on the field as he won with a clearance of 15 feet, 5 inches, picking up 819 points that gave the senior a significant cushion.

Maier proceeded to place second in the javelin with a mark of 159 feet, 7 inches, before winning the 1,500 meters in a time of 4:39.37.

Walker was the winner in the discus with his mark of 115 feet. 1 inch, while Thoma won the javelin with a mark of 169 feet, 6 inches.

In the heptathlon, Meyer opened the day with her specialty, the long jump, and didn’t fail on providing a winning mark with her leap of 19 feet, 2 inches. She then threw a personal best in the javelin on her final attempt at 108 feet, 10 inches. Meyer finished the day with a fourth-place time of 2:27.30. Central Washington sophomore McCall DeChenne won the 800 meters in 2:19.93.

Teams will carry points earned from the Combined Events Championships to the team competition at the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, May 14 and 15 at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. Central Washington will carry 16 points into the men’s team competition while Seattle Pacific will carry 12 points into the women’s competition.