Walker Has Reached Elite Status in Multi-Events

During his days running the hurdles at Lee’s Summit North, Darius Walker never glanced at the throwers.

 
He might have zoomed right past them without seeing them. Walker was so fast that he won Missouri state titles in the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles.

 
When Walker arrived at Central Missouri he believed running the hurdles and being on relay teams were going to be his events.

 
Central Missouri track coach Kip Janvrin saw the obvious speed in Walker, but he knew this athlete had more than just a quick twitch.

 
Walker had the ability to be a multi-event athlete. He had the tools to be a decathlete.

 
After redshirting in 2008, Walker is living up to it in a big-time way.

 
Walker, a sophomore, is coming off an indoor season in which he was crowned the national Division II heptathlon champion with a school-record 5,377 points.

 
“It was kind of one of those unbelievable things,” he said. “I’m still trying to figure out what it means. It was an incredible feeling.

 
“I knew I had the capabilities. We put in the training. We put in the work. It was a matter of me of putting the right events together to make it happen.”

 
One week after the national indoor meet, Walker went to the Angelo State University Spring Break outdoor meet and competed in the decathlon. All he did was garner 6,989 points, which is the second-highest total in Division II so far this year.

 
It’s also the only time this season that Walker has competed in the decathlon. He’s been running on the Mules 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

 
That changes Sunday and Monday when the decathlon portion of the MIAA Championships takes place in Joplin, Mo.

 
Walker wants to do well, but more importantly, he wants his teammates to score well to help out in team scoring.

 
“We got our top three guys for the decathlon, so hopefully we can get the top three places and then start looking at nationals.

 
“It is nice to be an individual champion, that personal glory, but when you win as a team that’s something you can celebrate with everybody. Everybody is equally happy. If you go around I’m the champ, I’m the champ, that’s arrogant. When it is your team it is fun.”

 
Walker is having a lot of fun in track these days. He’s an important cog in Central Missouri’s track program that has consistently been good.

 
It’s one of the reasons why Walker chose Central Missouri to run track.

 
Central Missouri wanted Walker.

 
“The guy is phenomenally talented and can do some big things,” Janvrin said. “I’m very proud that he is national champion this year. I wasn’t surprised because I know how talented he is.”

 
Janvrin said the coaching staff thought about using Walker in the hurdles and sprint events when he first arrived.

 
“We debated that for a while,” Janvrin said. “If he wants to stay in track and field a long time and be real good the best area for him is combined events. He still runs on our relay teams and he runs hurdles for us.”

 
Walker embraced the decathlon, but knew he now had to pay attention to throwers and technique.

 
Because the javelin throw is not allowed in Missouri high school, Walker definitely had no experience in that event.

 
“Some people, if they have a baseball background, they pick up the javelin real quick,” Walker said. “I think the discus is an unusual throw. Some people pick it up quicker. I’m starting to do all right in them, but it has taken me a couple of years.”

 

Walker, though, likes the aspect of competing in so many different events at a meet.

 

“It’s fun because I feel like I can use a lot more of my athletic ability because I’m more than just a runner. I can do more than that,” he said.

 

“I miss individual events, but I’m still doing them and working on them. Being a multi athlete is fun because when you win you are known as the best athlete in Division II instead of the greatest in hurdles or the greatest sprinter.”

 

It’s pretty simple why Walker is having so much success. He’s naturally fast.

 
“First off he possesses speed and jumping ability,” Janvrin said. “The decathlon is all about speed and power and he has that. My job as a coach is to take that physical ability that he has and translate that to jumping, throwing and sprinting.”

 
Walker has always enjoyed running. He said when he was a kid and had a bike, he preferred keeping up with his biking friends by jogging with them.

 
Those early running days fed a competitive spirit that’s needed to be a track athlete when there are many lonely hours of training and not nearly as much of a spotlight as college football and basketball.

 
“There is something about that thrill of competing, especially when you do well, you feel a great sense of pride and achievement,” Walker said.