Dakotah Keys finished 11th in the decathlon at the USA Track and Field Junior National Championships Thursday after competing with an injured elbow and being disqualified in the 400 for stepping on a lane line in the final event Wednesday at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Keys, who has an injured throwing arm, was unable to come close in the javelin to what he could have thrown if he were healthy. He scored 6,189 points in the competition, which was won by Neamen Wise of South Florida, who led from the start and finished with 7,300 points.
The other Oregon contestant, Nathanael Franks of Barlow, also was disqualified in the 400 for the same reason and finished 12th with 6,123 points.
The failure to score in the 400 likely cost Keys approximately 600 points, assuming he was able to run close to the 54.34 he ran during the high school season. It also dropped him from fifth overall to 16th at the end of the first day’s standings.
Key’s mother and coach, Lela Danforth, said she didn’t know that the U.S. Track and Field rule on what constitutes a lane violation differs from the rule in high school, NCAA and international competition, where touching the line is permitted for a maximum of three steps.
“I felt bad and take responsibility as a coach,” she said. “I should have known that. I should have realized that this was a different venue and I should have read up on the rules.”
The other event where different rules affected Keys’ performance was the pole vault, in which no run-throughs were allowed for competitors entering late in the competition. Keys, as is his practice, along with some other competitors, stayed out of the contest through the early heights, and when they entered they had trouble with their footwork due to changes in the wind over the 2 3/4 hours that had passed since they did their runthroughs to determine where they should start their approaches.
Keys tied for first in the pole vault, two other competitors, at 14-9. Danforth said the leaders were bothered by swirling winds.
“The wind was never consistent,” she said. “All the kids who came in first got a tail wind. All the kids who got in last got an aggressive headwind.”
Keys opened the meet Wednesday with a ninth-place finish in the 100 meters, running 11.43 to finish immediately behind behind Wise, who ran 10.85. It was a personal best by a tenth of a second for Keys.
Keys placed fourth in the long jump, fouling his first attempt, in which he actually jumped “a huge” 24 or 25 feet, scratching “by a toe,” Danforth said. His second attempt got him a mark of 22-03 1/2, a foot behind the winner, Austin Bahner, who jumped 23-3 1/2.
Keys placed sixth in the shot, throwing a personal-best 41-10 1/2, with youth implements, which are heavier than those used in high school. He high jumped 6-2 3/4, well off his season best of 6-5, to tie for sixth. Franks, who won the event at the 6A state championships this year, was second with 6-6 1/4, behind Gunnar Nixon who jumped 6-9 3/4. Danforth said swirling winds were a factor in that event too.
In the first event of the second day of competition, Keys finished third in the 110 hurdles in 14.70, also in the third heat and also into a headwind as he had in the 100. That was slightly behind the 14.54 he ran to win the 4A state title May 29. Keys was fifth in the discus, despite fouling on his second and third attempts. He threw 124-04, but Danforth said one of his throws, on which he scratched, was close to 141 feet. Bahner won with a throw of 139-10, with Wise second (136-6).
In the javelin, typically one of his best events, Keys opened with a throw of 151-10, but passed on his next two attempts due to an elbow injury that doctors say may be a torn ligament, suffered at the Meet of Champions during the high school season.
Franks, who was deep in the field in the previous three events, finished fourth (170-10) behind winner Kevin Lazas’ 183-0.
Keys, who has not fully recovered from a knee injury he suffered last spring, was 15th in the 1500, second to last, in 5:14.41 as Franks ran 4:29.86 to win the event.
Danforth said an official told her she could appeal the 400 ruling, but she said “a rule is a rule” and she saw Keys step on the line when she watched the replay.
“It’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is,” she said. “I appreciate that the officials were doing their job. It stunk for us. It was a difficult experience for Dakotah. He’s never been disqualified.
Danforth noted that the meet was a learning experience for Keys, who will enter the University of Oregon in the fall, where he is expected to compete in the decathlon.
The NCAA championships will be held at Drake in 2011 and 2012, so the experience will be helpful, she said. One major difference at Drake, compared to Hayward Field at the U of O, is the fans.
“There are no track fans like Oregon fans,” Danforth said. “When (former Oregon and Olympic runner) Galen Rupp ran the 10,000, I don’t think there were 1,000 people in the stands. It is definitely a different atmosphere in Oregon than anywhere else. I know that helps a lot of athletes. I’m kin of glad Dakotah chose where he chose. “