Walker, Who Is a Non-Smoker
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TRACK AND FIELD/SCOREBOARD The Olympian | Monday, September 7, 2009 | B5 years. As she got older, track be- Over the course of the two-day er.” UCLA. Walker, who is a non-smoker. “I WALKER came her primary focus. meet, Walker excelled. She won Walker became the first Wash- At Houston, her collegiate ca- was looking to retire ... it’s funny CONTINUED FROM B1 She set seven Yelm High re- the high jump (5-8¼) and long ington athlete to win four events reer soared. In 1981, she won the how things work out.” cords and five still remain – 200 jump (19-9¾) the first day, and in the girls state meet in any clas- national indoor pentathlon (4,215 Walker says she’s been able to Now a 50-year-old retired po- meters (24.6 seconds), 400 meters then the 80-yard low hurdles sification. Since then, eight girls points) and outdoor heptathlon put more time toward their son, lice officer and married with a son, (56.9), shot put (40 feet, 8 inches), (10.6) and the 220-yard dash have done it, including Prosser’s (5,662) championships, defeating Brian, who is exhibited some ath- Patsy Pointer still looks back at high jump (5-10¾) and long jump (26.1) the second. The second day Kelly Blair (1988 and ’89) and future Olympian Jackie Joyner on letic traits of his own. The 6-1, her prep days in awe. (19-10). She also had the school’s performances were state records, University Prep’s Katherine Reyn- both occasions. 185-pound senior at Reno’s Ga- “I didn’t realize how good I was 800-meter record until 2006. and her long jump mark still olds (2003 and ’04) twice. River In 1983, she set a personal best lena High School is one of Ne- at the time,” said Walker, who lives “I was like the Jill of all trades,” stands as a Class 1A state meet Ridge’s Janae Young also won of 5,962 points at the national vada’s top high school baseball in Reno. “It was an amazing Patsy said. record. four events at the 2001 Class 3A heptathlon championships, and players. A left-handed pitcher and feat.” In 1974 and ’75, she won three “I remember my mom telling state meet. finished third. Her pentathlon outfielder, he has given an oral state titles – 220-yard dash, 440- me, ‘Gosh, the family from Port But Walker remains the only point total still is a Houston school commitment to play for Oregon The girl who did everything yard dash and 80-yard low hurdles Townsend is wishing I would athlete to score all of her team’s record. State. Don Backman, Yelm’s track – with the latter two coming in break my leg,’ ” she said with a points for a team state title. The Olympics were her dream “My son is my life now,” she and field coach from 1973-80, re- state-record time. She later set a laugh. Her one-girl show at the state but it never quite materialized. said. members Walker’s height – she national record in the 80 low Four first-place finishes gave meet in Yakima caught the atten- The United States boycotted In 2003, Walker returned to was 5-foot-9 – and blonde pigtails. hurdles. her and Yelm 40 team points, tion of Sports Illustrated. She was the 1980 Olympic Games in Mos- Yelm for the first time in more And that she was the best female She might have won even more which was just enough to edge the only girl featured in the maga- cow, so Walker thought the 1984 than 20 years. She became the athlete he ever coached. but the 1976 state meet conflicted Port Townsend, 40-37, for the state zine’s “Faces in the Crowd” in its Games in Los Angeles was her school’s first inductee into its ath- “I think for somebody who was with her national pentathlon title. July 25, 1977, issue. best chance. letic hall of fame. When she spoke so gifted, she was willing to share competition. She was also train- Walker might’ve scored more Shortly after the state meet, She lost out to her training to the crowd, she was given a her knowledge and her experi- ing for the 1976 Olympic Trials so points, but participants only are Walker won the state and nation- partner, Cindy Greiner, in the standing ovation. ences with others, especially her she elected to skip the state meet. allowed to do four individual al junior pentathlon champion- heptathlon at the trials, finishing “People were expecting some- peers,” said Backman, now the No such conflicts would exist events at state. Backman remem- ships. fourth to Greiner’s third for the thing different,” Strong said. “They Timberline High School boys golf in her senior year, and what she bers Walker wanting to throw the last spot. She was the alternate. were maybe expecting this broken coach. did, no one could have imagined shot put but the two agreed it’d be Small-town girl in big places down older woman ... but they Yelm was under one track and it. best for Patsy not to. One phone call was all it took Moving on from track were blown away.” field program until 1976 when the But could Backman foresee for Walker to agree to go to UCLA, Her athleticism made law en- Getting back into track and Washington Interscholastic Ac- An astonishing performance Patsy winning all four of her then one of the nation’s top col- forcement a natural fit, and after field intrigues her, possibly as a tivities Association recognized The Port Townsend girls track events? legiate programs and coach Pat moving to Reno she landed a job coach. She said growing up in girls track and field. That same and field team, after winning it all “Oh yeah, I knew,” he said. Connelly. She went from a small- as a police officer. That’s where Yelm and living in the small year was the first time there was a the year before, were the favorites She wasn’t Yelm’s lone state town girl to being in Los Ange- she met her husband, Gary Point- Northwest town atmosphere was state meet for girls. Before then, in 1977. They featured three ath- competitor that weekend. She les. er. “fantastic.” an end-of-the-year invitational for letes who went on to win a com- and junior Penny Baker were the “What a change,” she said. “I’ve “We were both hired on the “There’s nothing like it and I girls was held in Goldendale, near bined 20 individual state titles. Tornados’ representatives on the never seen so much traffic ... It same day,” she said. haven’t come across anything like Yakima. One of Patsy’s main competitors girls side. Baker competed in the was fantastic, though. The coach- She spent 22 years with the it since,” she said. “I miss it up Walker played four sports at was Port Townsend’s Sarah Level, two-mile, but didn’t place. ing and all the facilities and com- Reno Police Department, doing there. I look forward to coming Yelm – basketball, volleyball and who won 11 individual state titles When it came time for the team peting there.” everything from fraud cases to back up there. cross country as well as track. As in the sprints and jumps between awards ceremony Walker took Walker was at UCLA for two major accident investigations, be- “Someday, I’d like to give back a freshman in 1973-74, she was the 1976-79. Baker to the podium with her as years – and one of those years was fore retiring two years ago because and share what I know.” team’s MVP in basketball. But her But luck – and Walker – was they accepted the 1977 Class 1A used as a redshirt season after she of lung cancer. volleyball career ended because of against Port Townsend. The Red- state title trophy together. broke her leg during the national Doctors caught it in time, but Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473 a sprained ankle. skins failed to defend their state “We went as a team,” she said. heptathlon championship in needed to remove half of Patsy’s [email protected] Yelm, which competed in the title in the 440-yard relay because “I wanted us to go up there as a Michigan in 1979. She decided right lung. She’s been recovering Nisqually League, didn’t have a they muffed two baton exchanges, team ... It was an accomplishment. she wanted to go to Houston be- and has three more years before girls cross country team, so she finishing sixth and earning just I didn’t know what the signifi- cause of coach Tom Tellez, who she receives a clean bill of health. trained with the boys team for two one point. cance was until much, much lat- had held clinics and camps at “It was a horrible thing,” said BASEBALL MOTOR SPORTS TENNIS TRANSACTIONS SOCCER SPORTS PLANNER Pacific Coast League NASCAR Sprint Cup U.S. Open BASEBALL Major League Soccer September American League PACIFIC NORTH DIVISION PEP BOYS AUTO 500 AT THE USTA BILLIE JEAN KING WESTERN CONFERENCE At Atlanta Motor Speedway NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER KANSAS CITY ROYALS—Purchased W L Pct. GB Mon 7 Tue 8 Wed 9 Thu 10 Fri 11 Sat 12 Sun 13 W L T Pts GF GA Hampton, Ga. New York the contract of INF Luis Hernandez from Omaha (PCL). Houston 11 7 7 40 31 22 Colo.