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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Byers’ hamstring once again proves limiting

It’s been another one of those years for Tyson Byers, to a maddening extreme.

Ten jumps. That’s what the Spokane pole vaulter’s indoor and outdoor track and field seasons amounted to.

And now it’s over almost as quickly as it resumed, the Washington State junior done in again by his balky hamstring at the Pacific-10 Conference championships in Eugene, Ore.

Byers cleared 16 feet, 3/4 inch on his first attempt, but so did 17 other vaulters. And trying to stay loose through that long procession proved impossible for Byers, who missed one try at 16-6 3/4 – the regional qualifying standard – before pulling out of the competition.

“It was so long between vaults that it was hard for him to stay warmed up and keep his leg working,” WSU coach Rick Sloan said. “In practice he’s been able to do it because he can go at his own pace, but every attempt was like starting all over again.”

Byers has battled injuries since leaving University High School and burned his redshirt year in 2004 because of a pulled hamstring. It flared up again last year, but after skipping the Pac-10s he was able to take third at regionals and fifth at the NCAAs, clearing a PR 17-8 1/2.

But he got off just one vault at his 2006 indoor opener before re-aggravating the injury and further twinges kept him from competing until the Washington dual two weeks ago.

“I just pushed it too fast trying to come back,” Byers said then. “It kills me not to be able to be back 100 percent. It just seems like a wasted year.”

A real ‘lulu

The trip to the Western Athletic Conference championships in Honolulu may have bruised the budget, but the Idaho Vandals certainly got their money’s worth out of Dee Olson.

Normally an 800-1,500 runner, the sophomore from Estacada, Ore., passed on the shorter event to go long – winning the 10,000 meters on Friday evening, then coming back to take the 1,500 on Saturday and place second to teammate Bevin Kennelly in the 5,000.

“Dee was amazing,” Idaho co-coach Yogi Teevens said.

The Vandal women placed a surprising second to sprint-powerful Louisiana Tech with 145 points – 81 of those coming in the races of two laps or more. The men were third, three points out of second – and it looks as if the best is yet to come. The men graduate just 30 1/2 of their 124 points, the women 42 of 145.

Wiley the roadrunner

Weber State’s Wiley King goes both deep and “beep-beep.” His wins in the high hurdles and 100 meters at the Big Sky Conference meet in Cheney made him the league’s all-time top point scorer in track and helped the Wildcats to another title.

But he’d made just as big an impression at Woodward Field back in October when his two long pass receptions beat Eastern Washington in football.

“I keep hearing about that,” King said with a smile. “Everybody in red and black has been saying something about a catch or two.

“I’d say the two are equal, because of the impact they made for the team. Somebody’s always going to be recognized for being the top in the conference, but myself and all the people recognized in that light are just reflections of our teammates.”

Last laps

Spokane had a big hand in Brigham Young’s Mountain West Conference titles. Chelsea (Smith) McKell, a Mt. Spokane graduate, won the 5,000 and 10,000, while Central Valley alum David Pendergrass won the high jump and got off a wind-aided 49-10 leap, a regional qualifier, for second in the triple jump. … Olson wasn’t the only race-aholic in Honolulu. Community Colleges of Spokane alum Ty Axtman of Boise State was just as remarkable, winning the 1,500 and 10,000, taking second in the steeplechase and finishing fifth in the 5,000. … Another CV grad, Alicia Mills of Montana, would have had a crack at winning the Big Sky javelin, having beaten EWU’s three-time champ Stephanie Ulmer at the Pelluer Invitational in Cheney in April. But 10 days after that, Mills underwent emergency surgery for a burst appendix. She hopes to return for regionals.