Ray Dykstra's All-Conference Javelin Throw Highlights SEC Championship Saturday
By Jacob Most
May 11, 2013 –
Championship Central | Saturday Results
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Raymond Dykstra Improved on each of his six javelin throws finishing up with a top toss of 71.65 meters / 235 feet 1 inch that was good for a runner up finish at the Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championships on Saturday.
Dykstra, a 2012 All-American in the javelin, finished as the SEC runner up in his signature event for the second consecutive season. His finish will earn him All-SEC honors for the second time in as many seasons as well.
Dykstra opened the afternoon with a throw that went 65.92m/216’3”. He gradually improved upon that mark on each of his throws before his scoring throw, which was just an inch short of his season-best. For his efforts, Dykstra won eight points for the Kentucky men’s team.
Dykstra nearly eclipsed his season best throw going into a wind that registered over 4 meters per second for multiple short sprints and horizontal jumps on Saturday.
Texas A&M’s Sam Humphreys won the event with a facility-record mark 78.36m/257’1”. Humphreys was the U.S. Olympic Trials Javelin Champion in 2012.
Rebecca Famurewa picked up six points for the UK women’s team with a third place discus throw that went 51.95m/170’5”. Famurewa has scored in the SEC Championship both indoors and outdoors in this her freshman season. She was eighth in the weigh throw indoors.
Luis Orta and Mackay Wilson combined to score eight points in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with respective times of 8:56.34 and 9:08.77. Orta’s fourth-place time was .02 seconds off his season best. Wilson, a freshman, picked up his first two SEC points by finishing sixth.
Isiah Kent notched a point for UK in the shot put with an eighth place throw that went 17.54m/57’6.5″. The junior has scored at all three of the SEC Outdoor meets he’s competed in.
The Wildcat men are in seventh place in the overall team standings through seven events scored. Arkansas leads the overall standings with 57 points, Florida is second with 47, Texas A&M ranks third with 37, Georgia is fourth with 31 and Missouri rounds out the top five with 22 points.
The Kentucky women’s team sits in ninth-place in the overall standings with 18 points through eight events scored. Arkansas leads the SEC Championships with 50 points. Georgia is second with 49, LSU is third with 31, Florida is fourth with 26 and Texas A&M’s 25 points close out the top 5.
Six Wildcats qualified into running event finals, which will take place on Sunday, by virtue of their preliminary performances on Saturday.
Entering the Saturday prelims UK’s Matt Hillenbrand, Keffri Neal and Adam Kahleifeh ranked second third and eighth respectively in the conference at 1,500M.
All three reached the 1,500M final. Hillenbrand won his qualifying heat with a time of 3:53.08, Keffri Neal was fourth in that heat crossing the finish line in 3:53.96 to earn an automatic bid into the final. Competing in the first preliminary heat, Adam Kahleifeh ran 3:51.30 to make the final as the top non-automatic qualifier.
Neal will also run in Sunday’s 800-meter final.
Allison Peare will also run both the 1,500 and 800-meter final after her personal-best 1,500M time of 4:25.00 was good for second-place in her prelim.
Keith Hayes made the 110-meter hurdles final as he took second in his prelim with the third fastest prelim time 13.78. Hayes also qualified for the 400-meter hurdles final.
Kayla Parker was the No. 5 qualifier into the 100-meter hurdles final as she crossed the line in 13.35 with a +3.2 wind.
Brandon Bagley ran a wind aided (+2.1) 110-meter hurdles personal best 14.26, which was the best performance not to make the final.
Bradley Szypka had the best shot put among those not to reach the final as he threw 16.88m/55’4.75” to place 10th.
The final day of the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships begins Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at Audrey J. Walton Stadium. Terence Boyd will compete in the triple jump in the first event of the day.
Andrew Evans will defend his conference discus title at approximately 3:30 p.m.
In total, Kentucky qualified six men and three women into Sunday running finals through prelim races on Friday and Saturday.
UK will also have entries in the men’s triple jump, men’s high jump, 5Ks, 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays on Saturday.
Live streaming video and results will be available on MUtigers.com/SECtrack. Live coverage will air on ESPN3.com at 3:50 p.m.
The SEC Championships will air as part of a 90-minute show on ESPNU on Thursday, May 23 beginning at 8 p.m.
#SECTF13 Steeplechase water jump. vine.co/v/b0nuF0x0HOn
— UK Track and Field (@KentuckyTrack) May 11, 2013
