The weekend of June 6 to June 7, 2026, Arlington High School hosted the ‘Washington State Combined Events Championship’, a duel decathlon and heptathlon meet with a total of 73 athletes that competed as their track seasons were coming to an end.
Multi-event athletes are very driven when it comes to their craft, whether it’s for the boys decathlon or the ladies heptathlon, competitors put in many hours to be perfect on competition day. However, while many spectators may only see the competition side of an athlete, very few get the opportunity to view what work gets put in while training for their events.
“We split them out throughout our week(s) through different days. We do about two to three events a day and then we just split them out throughout practice so we can get to everything,” Christopher Bydalek (‘26) said. “For the 15[00m], we just kind of just full send it. Every once a month, we do like three laps at like a slow pace just to get the feeling of the rhythm that we need.”
Losing focus is a major concern for many of the Arlington athletes competing. Always trying to stay mentally ready for over nine hours of competing across the span of two days is exhausting for the body and mind. Having methods to calm yourself is a great way to ease your stress.
“I like trying to breathe and focus and just do a lot of visualization and just imagining what I’m going to do and just trying to keep myself calm,” Delaney Henry (‘26) said. “If you’re underperforming, it’s really hard to just keep yourself in the race or in the event, and you just have to just keep yourself in it and keep going even when you’re not doing as well.”
While doing many events in one day can be exhausting, the athletes who signed up have fun doing it. The ‘Combined Events Championship’ meet made for many memories, whether it be for the good or bad.
“[In] high jump we didn’t have such a good day. It was pretty rainy… Definitely PR’ing in the 400 meter. I got a 51, on that coming from a 52 to a 51, so that’s pretty cool,” Linkin Currie (‘27) said when asked about the most memorable parts of the meet.
This year a variety of Arlington’s competitors were new to either the decathlon or heptathlon. Getting roped into the meet is very simple since many athletes want to push their limits both on the track and the field. While many of the alibis stay consistent on why they joined, one senior had a different story.
“Juddy came up to me freshman year, asked me if I wanted to do it, I was friends with Maya [Little (‘25)], and she did it, so then I kind of just was like, yeah, I don’t know, I like to try new things… She graduated last year though, so that was kind of harder this year without her. But, um, it honestly pushed me more this year because I realized that I had other shoes I had to fill,” Jazzlynn Berns (‘26) said.
In track and field, doing a multi-event meet is often strayed away from. People regardless of skill level, age, and physical fitness are overwhelmed by the huge amount of effort put into it. One of Arlington’s senior athletes, Chet Thompson, who through his freshman and junior years played soccer had recently made his transition to track and field. With determination in his first year, Thompson had a different mindset than most.
“I love the short sprint. Catching people is the most fun thing. Just racing, catching, bearing people down and catching them at the finish line is the best feeling in the world. And long jump, when you’re on that runway and you hit the board and you fly just right, and you fly in the air, it’s awesome. Just the best feeling… Just do it. You won’t regret doing it. It’s one of the most fun things I’ve ever done,” Thompson (‘26) said.