Thomson, Marta Score Three Points Apiece on NCAATF Day One
EUGENE, Ore. – Kentucky men’s track and field’s Jacob Thomson and Elijah Marta scored three points apiece, as each placed sixth in their respective events to start the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Wednesday.
The Wildcats have six points with six of 21 events complete, and are sitting in 16th place. Georgia leads Mississippi State 20-18 atop the team standings.
Tim Duckworth leads the decathlon by 174 points with 4,495 after the five day-one events. The decathlon resumes Thursday at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.
UK was unable to advance any of the three entries in track events that competed in semifinal races on Wednesday, so just Noah Castle will throw in the discus for UK on Friday when the men’s competition concludes.
The day-one attendance was 9,767 at Hayward Field.
Wednesday scorers
Thomson finished sixth in the 10,000 meters with a seven-second personal best 28:40.50.
He finished sixth in the NCAA 10k final two years ago.
“We thought it would be a fast race,” Thomson said. “Said it was going to take 28:30 to win it and that’s what happened. We were ready for that from the gun. Got up, stayed in the top-five the whole race. Then they started to break away. With about eight laps to go they started to break away and I started to hurt pretty bad.
“I told myself, ‘take it one lap at a time, one lap at a time. Then we got to a kilometer to go and there were six of us still bunched up. It just came down to a sprint finish. I closed well, I just didn’t have that extra gear that last 200 like the rest of the guys had.”
Elijah Marta improved the personal best javelin throw he came into the meet with by 12-feet, four inches on his second attempt, and then blew that mark out of the water on the third try to eventually place sixth.
“This means a lot, especially after last season,” Marta said. “Coming back a year later, PRing by more than three meters at the right time was just good timing. It was a whirlwind of emotions after, just such a good feeling.
His third attempt of 232’3″/70.81m got him to the final out of the first of two flights. Perhaps owing to having to wait another hour before the final three rounds started, he didn’t improve after that.
His second-attempt mark of 227’4″/69.30m was a 5’5″ PB at the time, only to be improved another 4’9″ one round later.
He became UK’s first NCAA javelin scorer since Raymond Dykstra last did so in 2015.
Decathlon day one report
Duckworth has a solid 174-point lead after the first day, 73 points off the nation-leading day-one PB he posted at Georgia in April, his only other decathlon this season.
Duckworth scored 959 points to open the day with a 100m time of 10.57 (+0.5). It was second fastest, to Georgia’s Karl Saluri, who scored 16 points more than Duckworth with a 10.50.
Duckworth exercised some major demons in emphatic fashion with his first long jump attempt. He popped of the best long jump ever in a NCAA Championship decathlon competition, 26’3.5″/8.01m (+0.8). The mark, and the 1,063 points it came with, gave him the point-total lead for the first time.
Duckworth has been jumping eight-meter plus marks throughout the year, having claimed bronze at the Southeastern Conference open long jump indoors and out.
Saluri retook the lead, by 15 points, as he won the decathlon shot put. Duckworth’s best mark came on his second attempt as he scored 676 with a mark of 43’1.75″/13.15m. Saluri’s shot put mark was 47’3.5″/14.41m.
Duckworth took control in the high jump, one of his best events, clearing 6’11.75″/2.13m, highest of anyone in the competition, to score 925 points and take a 195-point lead.
The 2018 Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year closed the day with a personal best 400m time, 48.78 to score 872.
The look ahead
The NCAA Championships continue into the second of four days on Thursday, with the meet program including the completion of the men’s decathlon and the start of the women’s competition.
The meet will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks throughout the week. ESPN2 will show Thursday’s competition starting at 7 p.m. ET, with field events streaming on ESPN3 starting at 1 p.m. ET.
Duckworth begins the day for UK with the sixth event of the decathlon, the 110m hurdles in heat two at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT (local in Eugene) on Thursday.
The open events start with UK’s women’s 4x100m relay continuing their NCAA title defense at 7:02 p.m. ET/4:32 p.m. PT and the first Wildcat in an open field event Thursday will be Olivia Gruver looking to defend her NCAA gold starting at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.
All field events will have online broadcasts via ESPN3.
The format
Points are scored at the NCAA Championships by individuals or relay teams finishing top-eight in respective events. Points are awarded on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis with 10 going to the winner and one going to eight place. The team with the most points at the end of the meet wins the team title.
Athletes qualified to the NCAA Championships finals site by finishing top-12 at two regional meets 10 days ago. The East and West Preliminary Championships. Athletes qualified there based on having top-48 marks in respective events recorded during the season.
The No. 4-ranked Kentucky women’s team has 13 event entries, tied for fourth most in the nation. The No. 14 UK men’s team has 10 event entries, tied for eighth most at the Championships.
The men’s competition will be held Wednesday and Friday with just the men’s decathlon concluding on Thursday.
The women’s competition will take place Thursday and Saturday, with the heptathlon starting on Friday.
The multi-events cross over because they have to be held in two consecutive days.
The meet is being held in Eugene for the sixth year in a row, and will relocate to Austin Texas next year.
Women’s team precedent
UK was fourth with 40 points at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The UK women’s team’s best NCAA outdoor finish was second in 2015 with 50 points.
UK placed third with 34 points at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
Men’s team precedent
UK was 59th with four points last season at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The UK men’s team’s best NCAA outdoor finish was ninth in 2008 with 25 points.
UK finished 17th with 12 points at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Broadcast windows (Times listed in Eastern)
Wednesday: ESPN3 3:20 p.m. | ESPN2 7:30 – 11 p.m.
Thursday: ESPN3 12:50 p.m. | ESPN2 7 – 10:30 p.m.
Friday: ESPN3: 3:20 p.m. | ESPN: 8:30 – 11 p.m.
Saturday: ESPN3: 2:20 p.m. | ESPN: 6:30 – 9 p.m.
