Shocker Men T&F 2013-14

[1972Shocker]

Coach Rainbolt adds another 6 athletes to his track and field stable in addition to the 6 athletes announced in February (see post #115 above).

5 are Kansas kids and 1 is an Oregonian.

Welcome to Shocker nation a guys and hope you have great success as Shockers.

[1972Shocker]

2 Shocker youngsters to compete in the USATF Junior Championships this weekend for a shot at making the USA team that will compete in the World Junior Championships later in July to be held in Eugene, OR.

Kord Ferguson will compete in both the Discus and the Shot Put although the implements in this event will be heavier than what is used in high school events. Kord is about as good as it gets among incoming freshman. I suppose his chance depend a lot on what the number and quality of kids with a year of college under their belt is. In any case, it will very interesting to see how Kord does as he steps up in competitive level.

Shocker sophomore-to-be Isaac Poe will compete in the 400M hurdles.

Good luck guys.

[1972Shocker]

Congratulations to Shocker recruit Kord Ferguson for winning the discus in the USATF Juniors Championships and will participate in the World Junior Championships. He became only the 5th high schooler ever to surpass 200' using this size discus.

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=209540970

Kord goes for a double today has he competes in the shot put.

[1972Shocker]

Here is Live Video of the USAT Junior Championship. The shot put is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm CDT. Not sure if it will receive video coverage or not.

[1972Shocker]

Kord finished 7th in the shot put. Saw 4 of his throws. Looked like a small forward competing against offensive linemen. Even the TV analyst commented on his slender build. Still Kord was very competitive.

Also, Kord was the only competitor I saw who used a glide technique. All the other guys were spinners.

[1972Shocker]

Best of luck to Team USA and to Shocker Austin Bahner (out of Wichita Heights) at this weekends Thorpe Cup Decathlon meet in Germany. I hope Austin fully recovered from the hamstring injuries that afflicted him during his senior year even though he did win the Decathlon at the Valley Championships. If he is in top form he can be very competitive in this event.

Also best of luck to Team USA youngsters including Shocker incoming Freshman, discus thrower Kord Ferguson out of Ottawa (KS) High, at this weekend World Junior T&F Championships. Despite winning the USA Juniors I'm not sure what is reasonable to expect from a high school kid competing against may athletes a year older the he is. I do know that Kord is not used to losing.

Men's Discus: Kord Ferguson of Ottawa, Kansas has thrown 201 feet and could get into medal contention. But there are eight guys in the field who have thrown farther, including top seed Sven Martin Skagestad of Norway (215-5).

Super cool to have the Shocker's represented at these Events.

[1972Shocker]

Nice interview of Kord Ferguson.

[1972Shocker]

Another good interview with Kord. This one right after winning the discuss at the USA Juniors.

[Shocker-maniac]

Tweet from yesterday:

@WichitaSt_TFXC: And just like that @KordFerguson is into the finals automatically with a throw of 194-3!

[1972Shocker]

Tweet from yesterday:

@WichitaSt_TFXC: And just like that @KordFerguson is into the finals automatically with a throw of 194-3!

Here are the results from the qualifying rounds of the discus.

The 12 best performers or a throw of 59.0M qualifies for the finals. 27 athletes were in the competition. 6 of the qualifiers made the competition by exceeding the 59.0M (193'7") standard on their 1st attempt and Kord was among this group. Kord ended up with the 9th best throw on the day (but remember he only took the 1 attempt to auto-qualify).

There appears to be some very good throwers among the 12 qualifiers. I think it's a long-shot to think Kord can medal in this event especially since he has only been working with the 1.75kg disc for 6-weeks (they use a 1.6kg disc in high school). However, to be in the world junior finals has to be a big thrill for the 18-year old Shocker-To-Be from Ottawa, Kansas and anything he does in the finals is icing on the cake.

3 athletes qualified with throws over 200' ranging from 204-7 to 207-11. The other 9 qualifiers ranged from 192-3 to 196-9 with Kord being right in the middle of that at 194-3 on his one throw. Kord's first throw at the USA Juniors was about 158' (he admits to be a little intimidated by the environment) and he won that event on his 3rd throw hitting 201-0.

I think we can catch at least some of the finals actions live beginning at 6:05 CDT.

Good Luck Kord! :applouse:

[1972Shocker]

It is 9:50pm in Germany so the 1st day of the Thorpe Cup Decathlon competition should be in the books.

Looks like Austin is in 7th place after Day 1 with 3,857 points (4th best among the American contingent).

http://decathlonusa.typepad.com/files/volumexxxixnumber39july42014.pdf

Today's events included the 100M, LJ, SP, HJ and 400M. The USA, after a strong start, trails by 395 points after Day 1 so not looking too good for the RW&B. It looks like they use the top 5 scores from each team to determine the winner of the event.

Tomorrow brings the 110H, DT, PV, JT and 1,500M

Good Luck Austin. :applouse:

[1972Shocker]

Not finding any video. But looks like Kord is throwing last which may be a good position.

http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-junior-championships/iaaf-world-junior-championships-2014-4954/live

[1972Shocker]

Kord throws 57.75M (189-6) on his 1st attempt and sits in 8th place. Still 5 throws left.

Kord fouls on his 2nd attempt.

Kord goes 59.54M (195-4 on his 3rd attempt).

However, that was only good for 9th place, his USA teammate threw 59.56M for 8th place. Only the Top 8 after 3 throws qualify for 3 additional throws.

Still one helluva an accomplishment for the young man and it will be damn interesting to follow his college career as a Shocker. At 6-6, 215 or so he has a frame that should be able to be built upon in the Shock weight room.

Maybe must see track & field action over the next few years.

[Shocker-maniac]

@WichitaSt_TFXC: Even though he won't be happy with 9th, what a terrific accomplishment for the future Shocker! 9th best Junior in the world! @KordFerguson

[Shocker-maniac]

@WichitaSt_TFXC: Bahner finishes 9th overall 7382 pts. 110h 15.53, DT 137-7, PV 14-5.5, JT 180-8, 1500m 4:47.15. GER beat USA 38,094-37,438.