Dykstra Finishes Fourth in NCAA Javelin

By Jacob Most

June 10, 2015 – 

Results | Photos | Meet Notes

EUGENE, Ore. — Kentucky senior Raymond Dykstra placed fourth in the NCAA Javelin Championship to earn five points for the Wildcats on Wednesday at Hayward Field.

Dykstra’s best mark came on his fifth attempt: a throw that travelled 245-feet-9-inches / 74.90 meters. Oregon’s Sam Crouser defended his title with a throw of 259’9″/79.19m.

Dykstra has finished in the top-6 at the NCAA Championships every year of his career having finished sixth as a freshman in 2012, fifth in 2013, as Silver Medalist last season and fourth this year.

All of Kentucky’s men’s entries competed on Wednesday, meaning the Wildcats will finish with five points. After the first day, Kentucky is in a five-way tie for 17th place.

UK had two other Wednesday entries, Bradley Szypka and Terence Boyd.

Szypka’s first throw traveled 62’0.5″/18.91m. He did not improve on his next two throws and placed 14th.

Boyd opened with a long jump of 24’0.25″/7.32m (+2.1 meters/second wind), and did not better that mark. The senior finished 21st at his first NCAA Championships.

Only the decathlon will be scored on Thursday, and the men’s competition will conclude on Friday.

On Thursday attention will shift to Kentucky’s third-ranked women’s team with mostly preliminary heats on the track, but points will be on the line for UK in the long jump final, where Sha’Keela Saunders claimed Silver last year (and in March indoors) and Kenyattia Hackworth is also coming off a first team All-America performance indoors.

The 2015 NCAA Championships have a new schedule with just men’s teams competing on Wednesday and Friday, and just women’s teams in action on Thursday and Saturday. The exceptions are multi-events as the heptathlon and decathlon are being contested on Wednesday and Thursday.

For the first time ever the entire NCAA Outdoor Championships are being broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. ESPN’s coverage will include primetime live broadcast windows on ESPN Thursday and Friday, and on ESPN2 on Saturday.

The Saturday coverage could include an exciting finish in the women’s team race, which the Wildcats will be hoping to feature heavily in.

Points are earned at the NCAA Championships by individuals and relay teams earning top-eight finishes on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

ESPN Broadcast Schedule

Thursday, June 11: 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
8:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. (ESPN)
1 p.m.-10:45 p.m. (ESPN3)
Friday, June 12: 7:30 p.m.-10 p.m. (ESPN)
7 p.m.-10:15 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, June 13: 5 p.m.-7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
4:30 p.m.-7:45 p.m. (ESPN3)

Field events are also being covered in more depth than ever before via the ESPN3 surround feed. The surround feed will emphasize field events that historically haven’t been covered live. A large portion of the races will be covered by Tom Heinonen.