fbpx

Keys has ‘disappointing’ results at NCAA nationals as he places 11th

Scott Swanson

It wasn’t the finish Dakotah Keys was hoping for Thursday at the end of the NCAA Division I National Championships decathlon, but the Sweet Home graduate was ready to move on.

Keys, a sophomore for the Ducks, was 11th overall, with 7817 points, in a field of 21 finishers after a frustrating two days in which he never found the spark that won him the Pac-12 championship on May 5, in which posted big PR’s in the final two events, the javelin and the 1500, to edge Washington’s Jeremy Taiwo by a point.

Taiwo, a senior, finished second this time, with 8239 points, behind Texas freshman Johannes Hock, who scored 8267. Hock, 20, from Germany, entered the 1500-meter run, the final of the 10-event, two-day competition, with a 171-point lead over Taiwo in what was the deepest NCAA decathlon ever. Six competitors finished over 8000, 11 over 7800 points.

Hock’s winning score of 8293 points was a meet record.

Third place went to UCLA junior Marcus Nilsson, of Sweden, who scored 8104.

“It was disappointing,” Keys said of his final score. “At the Pac-12 championships I was kind of on a high. Everything was going good. Here I was just kind of flat.”

Keys won one event, the javelin, with a throw of 214-3.

He finished Day 1 in 15th with 3,941 points, the highlight coming with a personal best in the shot put of 13.28 meters (43-7).

Keys is among the qualifiers for the 2013 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships June 21-22 in Des Moines, Iowa.

He acknowledged that he’s still relatively inexperienced in championship-level multi-events, and the NCAAs was “a learning experience.”

“I’m learning not to be affected by one bad event, but to move forward,” he said.

Total
0
Share