Felix Starts Strong in WAC Heptathlon

Boise State Head Coach J.W. Hardy has sent a monkey wrench into Utah State's expectation to win the WAC.  Today Hardy sent freshmen Nathan Balcirak and Justin Malashin into the competition for men's heptathlon.  Neither has competed at the collegiate level in this event.  Utah State has two heptathletes, John Johnson and Philip Noble, that are expected to score strong in the event.  Boise State often has a student-athlete win this competition but Utah State scores more points because they have more entries. 

This time, Boise State has four competitors (Kurt Felix is favored and Anthony Belcher should score some points) compared to three for Utah State.  If the Broncos can disrupt USU and steal some of their points away, it would already be a bit of a problem for Utah State.

Kurt Felix today won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.10; he was followed closely by Belcher (7.21)..  Here is the scoring in this event:

1 Felix, Kurt               JR Boise State               7.10     847
  2 Belcher, Anthony          JR Boise State               7.21     809
  3 Noble, Philip             SR Utah State                7.29     782
  4 Balcirak, Nathan          FR Boise State               7.41     742
  5 Johnson, John             JR Utah State                7.45     729
  6 Hawkins, Sam              JR Utah State                7.73     640
  7 Malashin, Justin          FR Boise State               7.84     607


Felix also won the long jump portion of the heptathlon:

Finals                                                                          
  1 Felix, Kurt               JR Boise State              7.22m   23-08.25    866
      7.22m  7.17m  6.07m                                                       
  2 Noble, Philip             SR Utah State               6.56m   21-06.25    711
      6.21m  6.56m  6.44m                                                       
  3 Malashin, Justin          FR Boise State              6.49m   21-03.50    695
      6.43m  6.49m  6.46m                                                       
  4 Belcher, Anthony          JR Boise State              6.24m   20-05.75    639
      6.10m  6.21m  6.24m                                                       
  5 Johnson, John             JR Utah State               6.19m   20-03.75    628
      5.84m  FOUL  6.19m                                                        
  6 Hawkins, Sam              JR Utah State               5.90m   19-04.25    565
      5.81m  5.69m  5.90m                                                       
  7 Balcirak, Nathan          FR Boise State              5.88m   19-03.50    561
      5.22m  5.42m  5.88m   

Felix won his third event of the day in the shot put, blowing away the competition.  Felix threw 44-11.75 inches to score 711 points.  Noble was second with 36-05, followed by Johnson (36-4.75), Hawkins (30-11.75), Belcher (28-9.75), Malashin (28-1.75) and Balcirak (27-3.75).

Felix also won the high jump and picked up 963 points.  The Bronco star won all four events on the first day.

After today's four events:

1.  Kurt Felix, Boise State (3,387 points)
2.  Philip Noble, Utah State (2,655)
3.  John Johnson, Utah State (2,444)
4.  Anthony Belcher, Boise State (2,421)
5.  Sam Hawkins, Utah State (2,267)
6.  Justin Malashin, Boise State (2,239)
7.  Nathan Balcirak, Boise State (1,688)