NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene track and field sophomore Steven Schmidt won the decathlon for the second-straight season as he impressed the home crowd at the GNAC Outdoor Combined Events Championships at Bohner Track on Monday and Tuesday.
Joining Schmidt in decathlon competition this week was Shalkar Wilkins along with Sierra Newell on the women's side in the heptathlon.
Schmidt surged over the final day of competition to be crowned champion after trailing JJ Walker of Western Oregon through the first five events on Monday.
The individual performance of Monday belonged to Schmidt though, who won the high jump with a clearance of 7 feet, 0.5 inches. The mark not only reset his conference meet decathlon record set last year, but also made him just the third jumper in GNAC history to clear seven feet outdoors. Schmidt is tied with Saint Martin's Tyler Cronk for No. 2 on the GNAC all-time list and is tied for third in Division II this season.
Schmidt had just one other top-three finish on the Monday, placing third in the shot put with a mark of 39 feet, 6.75 inches.
He then took the lead in the first event on Tuesday and never looked back, winning three events and placing in the top three in all five day two events to capture the title with a personal-best score of 7,047 points. The performance ranks No. 4 on the GNAC all-time list and No. 9 in Division II this season. With the win, Schmidt has now won four of a possible four conference combined events titles between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Schmidt opened Tuesday with a win to take the lead from Walker, capturing the 110-meter hurdles in 15.24 seconds. He went on to place third in the discus before winning the pole vault with a clearance of 15 feet, 7.25 inches and the javelin with a throw of 179 feet, 7 inches. Schmidt was far from gassed for the final event, the 1,500 meters, taking second in a time of 4:50.87.
With his win, the Nighthawks will now take 10 points into the main portion of the GNAC Outdoor Championships from May 12-13 in Monmouth, Oregon.
Wilkins finished ninth on the men's side with a score of 4791 points. His best finishes were third in the 400m and sixth in the javelin.
Newell placed 12th in the heptathlon with a total of 2712 points, with highlight performances coming from sixth-place finishes in both the shot put and javelin.
