Raymond Dykstra Named SEC Field Athlete of the Week
By Jacob Most
April 22, 2014 –
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Raymond Dykstra was named Southeastern Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week on Tuesday after he broke both the Kentucky school and stadium javelin records last Saturday.
Dykstra shattered his own school record, which was set as a freshman in 2012, with a personal-best mark of 76.25m/250-1 to win the Kentucky Relays javelin competition. The mark bettered the previous school record by nearly three feet.
Dykstra’s throw also smashed the previous stadium record by more than 12 feet, which was set by Alabama’s Mats Nilsson to win the 1996 SEC Championships.
His throw ranks second in the nation and the SEC this year. His performance moved him well up the national descending order list, and likely sets up an intriguing SEC Championship showdown between he and the national-leader, Tennessee’s Kyle Quinn. Quinn threw the javelin 78.28m/256-10 at the Tennessee Relays.
Dykstra is the two-time defending SEC runner-up in the javelin, and defeated Quinn by 11 feet in the Florida Relays javelin competition earlier this month.
Dykstra also threw a PR in the discus with a mark of 49.01m/160-9 to place 10th.
Dykstra and many of UK’s top throwers will travel to the Triton Invitational in San Diego this weekend. UK’s top runners will compete at the 120th running of the Penn Relay Carnival, while other members of the UK track and field teams will travel to the Bellarmine Classic.
The weekend’s competitions all build up to the 2014 SEC Outdoor Championships, which will be hosted by UK between May 15-18.
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