Tucson – Stepping on to the track last Thursday morning in Tucson, decathlete Patrick Arbour looked comfortable and confident. After a successful indoor season, the two time national bronze medalist was ready to set another personal best under the desert sun, but even surprised himself with a 7593 point performance to win the Jim Click Combined Events Shootout and set a new club record in the process. The mark should also qualify Arbour to compete in this summer’s World University Games and this fall’s Francophone Games.
From the first gun, Arbour only seemed to gain momentum as he opened up with new lifetime bests in the 100m (11.55), long jump (7.01m) and shot put (15.32m). He would round out day one with 1.87m clearance in the high jump and 52.25s in the 400m to finish more than 200 points ahead of his PB pace.
On day two, Arbour continued to heat up, much like the temperatures which exceeded 30 degrees, as he posted new lifetime bests in the first two events, the 110m hurdles (15.00) and discus (50.82m). In fact, the former thrower’s mark in the discus was not only a new personal best, but also surpassed the long standing club record of 50.34m set by Steve Lambrose in 1977. Arbour would round out the day with near best performances in the pole vault (4.40m), javelin (65.32m) and 1500m (5:03.62).
Arbour’s training partner, Mark Chenery, withdrew from the competition following the pole vault due to a knee injury.
In the heptathlon, Michele Krech led the way with a new personal best performance of 4908 points to finish 10th in the seven event discipline. The University of Ottawa law student’s performance was buoyed by personal best performances in the 100m hurdles(15.10), long jump (5.28m) and 800m (2:15.62). Michele had entered the competition with a best score of 4773 points set at home in Ottawa in 2011. Finishing right behind Krech in 11th was Karla Schleske Shephard, who scored 4875 points.
