Decathlon Has Wilbourn’s Attention Again

Shawn Wilbourn’s much delayed, and occasionally interrupted, decathlon career has picked up steam.

In the past he has dabbled with football, and languished with injuries. But Wilbourn, a Long Beach State graduate and a current 49er assistant track and field coach, will be in Atlanta June 20-24 for the U.S. Olympic trials.

Wilbourn, 27, qualified by scoring 8,031 points at the Willie Williams Invitational last month. He won the shotput (48-6), discus (161-4), javelin (203-6), pole vault (16-1) and the 110-meter high hurdles (14.21). It was the fourth highest score in the nation this year--a deceptive ranking considering that world record holder Dan O’Brien has yet to compete in a decathlon this year.

“Unless Dan screws up again, he’s going to win it,” Wilbourn said. “Then comes Steve Fritz and Chris Huffin. I’m basically the underdog and I hope to sneak up on them. These guys have been training for years.”

Wilbourn, on the other hand, had a four-year layoff and didn’t get back into the decathlon until 1992.

He had been a standout track athlete at Visalia Redwood High School. He competed in six events during his high school career, which made the decathlon a natural when he enrolled at the College of Sequoias. He was state community college champion in the decathlon with 7,270 points, the highest score among community college decathletes in the nation in 1988.

Wilbourn appeared to have a promising decathlon career, but his football future looked almost as bright. He picked Long Beach because it was the only school that would let him compete in both sports, but football eventually took the forefront.

Wilbourn, who was a redshirt in the fall of 1988, was a two-year starter at free safety for the 49ers, then was drafted by the Buffalo Bills. He spent one year on the Bills’ inactive roster and then another year in the World League of American Football.

In 1992, he was invited to the San Francisco 49ers training camp. Wilbourn was impressive, but couldn’t help but notice the abundance of safeties in camp. He quit before the final cut, only to learn later that he had a chance to make the team.

Through it all, the decathlon was put on hold.

“Even when I came to Long Beach, I didn’t run track the first year because I was concentrating on getting on the football team,” Wilbourn said. “I planned to run track my senior season, but the NFL teams looking at me didn’t want me to risk getting injured.”

It was while watching the 1992 Olympics that he decided to revive his track and field career. But it hasn’t been easy.

Wilbourn had competed as a junior at Long Beach, but injured his hamstring part way through the season. It’s an injury that has slowed him the last six years. He re-injured it playing football twice.

Last year, Wilbourn appeared to be making progress. He scored 7,907 during a meet in early March. But a week later, he tore his hamstring. The injury has healed, somewhat, but Wilbourn will undergo surgery in the fall.

“It’s something that I have to be very careful with,” Wilbourn said. “The last time I hurt it was because I tried to come back too soon. I was inexperienced and learning about this stuff all the time.”

In June, he’ll learn just how far he has come.

“When I was at Sequoias, a guy from a local paper asked me if I wanted to play in the NFL or go to the Olympics,” Wilbourn said. “I told him both. The next day the headline read, ‘Wilbourn Can’t Decide Between the NFL or Olympics.’ I was a cocky kid back then. But I got to play some in the NFL and now I’m going to try for the Olympics. Maybe I can end up doing both.”

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Gwen Loud, a 49er assistant track coach, also has qualified for the Olympic Trials.

It will be the fifth Olympic Trials for Loud, who qualified in the long jump with a mark of 21-4 3/4 during a meet at UCLA on March 2. She finished fifth at the trials in 1980, ninth in 1984, ninth in 1988 and sixth in 1992.

Loud, who attended Hawaii, was an NCAA champion in 1984 with a jump of 22-5, her career best.

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The 49er men’s volleyball team, ranked second, faces No. 3 UCLA Friday in the Pyramid at 7:30 p.m. in a match that could decide the at-large berth for the Final Four.

The NCAA takes the winners from three regions, plus an at-large team, for the Final Four. The winner of the Long Beach-UCLA match would likely have the inside track, since the at-large team generally comes from the west.

Long Beach (20-4) has won nine consecutive matches and has not even lost a game in the last five. The 49ers are currently second to No. 1-ranked Hawaii in the Pacific Division of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

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The 6-5 victory over UCLA Tuesday gave the Long Beach baseball team its first victory over a ranked team in two months.

The 49ers (23-15) are 7-10 against ranked teams this season, which could hurt their chances of receiving an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament should they not win the Big West Conference tournament.

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Clyde Vaughan, 49er lead assistant basketball coach, was interviewed Thursday for the head coaching vacancy.