EUGENE – First day of action at the NCAA Championships included a runner-up finish for Ioannis Kyriazis in the javelin, a school record for the Aggie freshman Donavan Brazier in the 800m and Lindon Victor is on pace to threaten his decathlon record.
A final round throw of 253-3 (77.25) by Kryiazis moved him from fourth place. Mississippi State's Curtis Thompson claimed the title with a 254-9 (77.64), which he threw in the fifth round. The leader with a 250-9 (76.44) from the first round was John Ampomah of Middle Tennessee State, who ended up third.
Kryiazis only threw seven times this outdoor season in winning four titles. Today he needed all six throws in challenging for the title as he picked up eight team points. Last season, as a freshman, he placed fifth in the NCAA final.
"I'm glad that I took all six throws, but they weren't as good as I expected," said Kyriazis. "I was kind of forcing too much when my throws weren't going as far instead of staying relaxed. On my final one I knew I didn't have any more chances so I relaxed more."
Kyriazis became the third Aggie to claim silver at the NCAA Championships in the javelin, joining Ox Dieterich (1926) and Sam Humphreys (2012), who also won in 2013.
Through the first day of the decathlon collegiate leader Lindon Victor scored 4,308 points and is currently in second place behind the 4,338 tally for Wisconsin's Zach Ziemek. In third and fourth place are the Georgia tandem of Devon Williams (4,232) and Karl Saluri (4,216). Maicel Uibo, the third Georgia entry and two-time defending NCAA champion, is currently in sixth place with 4,127 points.
"I'm consistent," noted Victor. "This is a good group of guys to compete against. I almost scored what I did at SEC and I'm in still in second place. I just love competing with these guys. It's the highest level of competition next to the Olympics, I think."
Victor is just a point off the 4,309 he produced on the first day of the SEC Championships. He opened with a career best of 10.60 in the 100m for 952 points and then set a PR of 24-1 (7.34) in the long jump for 896 points. In the shot put Victor led the field with a 51-3 (15.62) for 828 points and then high jumped 6-4 ¾ (1.95) for 758 points. Closing out day one with the 400m, Victor posted a 48.73 for 874 points.
"To be in second place, I'm happy," said Victor. "I have some really good events tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Because of the work we are doing I knew I could run a PR in the 100m and also get a good mark in the long jump. It was a really good start and overall I thought I was consistent."
Brazier broke the Texas A&M school record in the 800m with a semifinal victory of 1:45.07, the second fastest time by an American junior. He only trails a 1:44.3 by Jim Ryun, which also serves as the collegiate record. That mark by Ryun was set on June 10, 1966. The NCAA final in the 800m will occur on Friday, June 10.
In running the fastest qualifying time in NCAA meet history, Brazier produced 200m splits of 24.70, 26.10 (50.80), 26.58 (1:17.38), 27.69 (1:45.07).
Finishing behind Brazier were Eliud Rutto (1:46.15) and Sampson Laari (1:46.44), both of Middle Tennessee State. Posting the second best time in qualifying with a 1:45.48 was 2014 NCAA champion Brandon McBride of Mississippi State.
The previous Aggie record of 1:46.15 was set this season by senior Hector Hernandez, who placed fifth in the same race with Brazier as he ran 1:47.47. Hernandez placed 12th overall in the semifinal round.
Indoors, Brazier broke the U.S. Junior record with a clocking of 1:45.93. He now has five of the top 11 performances on the all-time U.S. Junior list. His 1:45.07 ranks third among Americans this season, 19th on the 2016 world list and fourth among world juniors this season.Â
Robert Grant claimed his semifinal heat of the 400m hurdles in 49.36, which is a career best for the Aggie sophomore and ranks second on the Texas A&M all-time list. Grant moved ahead of Richard Murphy's 49.38 and now only trails the school record of 49.05 set in 1987 by Craig Calk.Â
Grant posted the third best time in the semifinal, trailing a 49.07 by Florida's Eric Futch and 49.31 by Kenny Selmon of North Carolina. Finishing behind Grant was Florida's TJ Holmes in 49.70 and Michigan's Taylor McLaughlin with a 49.73.Â
With splits of 45.75 and 44.81, Brazier and Grant came back to run the last two legs of the 4x400 relay, which placed third in its semifinal heat with a 3:03.59 to advance to the final on time. Running the first two legs were Richard Rose (47.2) and Fred Kerley (45.8).
Joining Texas A&M in the final of the 4x400 were Florida (3:02.78), Nebraska (3:03.31), who finished first and second in the same heat as the Aggies, LSU (3:03.72), Clemson (3:04.56), Mississippi State (3:05.16), Purdue (3:05.95), and Ohio State (3:05.99).
In the men's 4x100 relay the Aggies did not get the baton around as they missed on the final exchange. The foursome included Will Williams, Kerley, Grant and Devin Jenkins. Texas A&M was one of four schools who did not finish.Â
Advancing to the final of the sprint relay were defending champion Arkansas (38.71), Houston (38.73), LSU (38.73), Florida (38.83), Western Kentucky (38.85), TCU (38.91), North Carolina State (39.11), and Arizona State (39.26). Â
Kerley also ran in the 400m semifinal, clocking 45.99 to place sixth in his heat, finishing 13th overall.
In the pole vault Jacob Wooten was part of a five-way tie for 12th place as he cleared 16-10 ¾ (5.15). Meanwhile, Chase Wolfle and Carl Johansson both no-heighted, missing at 17-4 ½ and 16-10 ¾, respectively. In the long jump a mark of 23-6 ¼ (7.17) placed Williams 22nd. Sam Hardin finished 22nd in the javelin with a throw of 222-8 (67.86).