Just when he was doing so well, the roof fell in.
Boise State's Kurt Felix was in good shape after three events of the men's Heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in College Station, Texas. The final event of the day was Felix's best event, the high jump, where he regularly clears 7-feet and higher.
On this day, however, he cleared 6-feet, 8-inches, and the chances of him attaining All-America status dimmed when the bar fell down. Felix is not near as strong in the second day's events as he is the first day. He is seeded last in the 60-meter hurdles, 11th in the pole vault and 7th in the 1,000-meters. Meanwhile, most of the top competitors are putting up career-type numbers, making Kurt's task extremely difficult. It's not out of the question, but the amazing Bronco athlete will have to excel at events in which he doesn't normally.
Here's the story in chronological order:
Kurt Felix of Boise State was fourth in the 60-meter dash, not one of his best events but certainly not one of his worst. Felix was seeded ninth in the event, so that tells you where he's at.
60-Meter Dash:
Silkaukas 962 points
Moss 915
Horn 879
Felix 865
Taiwo 861
Klech 854
Morrison 851
Barrefors 840
Lazas 840
Beach 837
Martin 830
Bray 823
Cleve 823
Rise 813
Cato 796
Sossah 759
Felix was the #6 seed in the Long Jump and finished fourth:
Long Jump:
Silkauskas 972 points
Felix 913
Morrison 898
Klech 896
Horn 883
Taiwo 881
Rise 874
Beach 869
Martin 862
Barrefors 862
Moss 852
Lazas 847
Bray 823
Cato 807
Cleve 790
Sossah 783
The Shot Put is an event where Felix did not do as well as he hoped. He came in as the #4 seed and came in seventh. I will post results shortly.
Shot Put:
1. Rise 836 points
2. Barrefors 747
3. Cleve 724
4. Moss 703
5. Martin 700
5. Sossah 700
7. Felx 690
8. Bray 698
9. Lazas 684
10. Horn 661
11. Morrison 657
12. Silkauskas 646
13. Taiwo 603
14. Beach 535
15. Klech 527
16. Cato 489
The fourth and final event of the day is complete and it is not good news. Kurt's best event, the high jump, was one where he not only needed to win but win big. Felix was the overwhelming favorite with no one in the field close to his best jump. He was expected to score 963 points and he only got 850. This means he is definitely out of the running for the title and it will be a long uphill climb to even get in the top eight.
High Jump:
1. Klech 906
2. Taiwo 878
3. Felix 850
3. Martin 850
5. Moss 822
5. Horn 822
7. Barrefors 794
7. Rise 794
9. Silkauskas 767
9. Lazas 767
9. Beach 767
9. Sossah 767
9. Morrison 767
14. Cato 740
14. Cleve 740
16. Bray 661
Felix is #2 after the first day, but he should be way ahead to have a good chance at finishing in the top eight. He is going to have to do far better on Day 2 than he has ever done in his life to reach the top eight. This should be clear by reading the standings that show the amount (plus or minus) that each competitor is compared to their seed. Felix is one of the only negative performers and his total negative number is one of the lowest in the field.
As you can tell, Felix has 173 points to make up to reach the top eight.
Total after 4 Events:
1. Silkauskas 3,347 (+46 points)
2. Felix 3,318 (Kurt is 67 points behind his WAC record performance.)
3. Rise 3,317 (+75 points ahead of pace)
4. Moss 3,292 (-3 points)
5. Horn 3,265 (+53 points)
6. Barrefors 3,243 (+96 points)
7. Martin 3,242 (+91 points)
8. Taiwo 3,223 (+153)
9. Klech 3,183 (+24)
10. Morrison 3,173 (+111)
11. Lazas 3,137 (-23)
12. Cleve 3,077 (+16)
13. Sossah 3,009 (-31)
14. Beach 3,008 (-136)
15. Bray 2,994 (-157)
16. Cato 2,832
Projected Total Based on First Day Performance:
1. Barrefors 5,912
2. Moss 5,900
3. Taiwo 5,899
4. Horn 5,869
5. Rise 5,831
6. Martin 5,819
7. Morrison 5,805
8. Silkauskas 5,797
9. Cato 5,742
10. Cleve 5,714
11. Klech 5,709
12. Beach 5,680
13. Lazas 5,651
14. Sossah 5,643
15. Felix 5,624
16. Bray 5,514
Thanks for the results Rocket. We still have the high jump to go, which is an event Felix does very good at.
ReplyDeleteYou mean the long jump, right? That was one of the events today as well. In the heptathlon, the three events on the second day are the 60-meter hurdles, the pole vault and the 1,000-meter run. Felix is seeded last in the 60-meter hurdles, 11th in the pole vault and 7th in the 1,000.
ReplyDeleteObviously those statistics provide ample opportunity for improvement where he can get the points back that he lost in the high jump, but it's not going to be easy, especially when most of the competitors are 50-100 points ahead of pace and he is 60 points behind.