June 10, 2016
Complete Results
THE RUNDOWN
EUGENE, Ore. - Baylor senior
Felix Obi finished 10th in the triple jump competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field Friday.
The El Paso, Texas, product came within .25 inches or one centimeter of ninth place, which would have earned him a spot in the event finals and three more attempts.
Obi opened the day with a jump of 52-0.5 [15.86m], which placed him seventh after one round of jumps in the 24-person field. However, Obi was unable to improve upon that mark on his second and third attempts, going 51-7.75 [15.74m] and 51-5.5 [15.68m], respectively. Meanwhile, other competitors passed Obi's opening mark moving him down to ninth after two rounds and then down to 10th as he prepared to take his third jump.
He finished 10th for a second-straight season, after missing out on the final by two inches in 2015. The 2014 NCAA Indoor triple jump champion does have one more outdoor season of eligibility remaining, after missing the 2014 outdoor season with an injury.
With all four of BU's men's entries missing the finals, it ends a streak of 38-straight years for the men's team to score at the national outdoor meet (1978-2015).
TOP QUOTE #1
"I know Felix is disappointed. To miss the finals where you get an opportunity for three more jumps by one centimeter - it doesn't get any closer than that. I feel for him. That is tough. Like our men's 4x4 missing the finals by one hundredth of a second, it is about as close as it comes in track and field." - head coach Todd Harbour on Felix Obi
TOP QUOTE #2
"It just speaks to the consistency that we have had in the program over the years. We will start another one next year. We will be back in force as we bring a bunch of athletes back. It has just been one of those years. We have had such a good run here the last couple of years, so this has been a tough one." - Harbour on the men's team scoring in every outdoor meet over the past 38 years
WHAT'S NEXT
Obi's action concludes the 2016 collegiate season for Baylor. The Bears are slated to have several athletes in action at the USA Junior Championships, June 20-24, in Clovis, Calif.
To stay current on all things Baylor Track, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.
OMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS
Triple Jump
Men
10. Felix Obi (SR) - 52-0.5 [15.86m]
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
EUGENE, Ore. - After missing Friday's finals by the smallest possible margin - one centimeter, or one-quarter of an inch - the only word Baylor triple jumper Felix Obi could come up with to describe it was "disgusting."
Finishing 10th at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the second straight year, one spot out of the finals, Obi's best jump of 52 feet, one-half inch came on his first attempt as he was barely bumped out by Florida International's Marcus Ghent (52-0 ¾).
"I had a feeling, but I didn't know I was that close," Obi said. "I felt good off my first phase, but coming off my second and third phase, I just wasn't getting the lift I needed to be able to push me through. That last jump, I really tried to go for it, but my hips dropped a little too much and I was able to push through like I wanted to."
With Obi failing to advance to the finals, Baylor went scoreless at the meet for the first time in 39 years. The streak began in 1978 with a sixth-place finish by the mile relay and continued through last year, when sprinter Trayvon Bromell placed second in the 100 meters and third in the 200 for all of the Bears' 14 points.
"It's one of those things that you knew at some point, some time, it was going to happen," said Baylor head coach Todd Harbour, who scored the Bears' only points in 1979 with the first of his three straight runner-up finishes in the 1,500 meters. "I guess it just speaks to the consistency we've had in the program over the years. I'm disappointed to see it end, but we'll bring a bunch back up here and start another one next year."
The 2014 NCAA Indoor champion, Obi came in ranked seventh in the field of 24 jumpers and had broken his own school record in winning the Big 12 title with a leap of 53-9 ¾.
But after that opening mark of 52-0 ½ that had him seventh through the first round of jumps, Obi wasn't able to improve his mark. He went 51-7 ¾ on his second attempt and 51-5 ½ on his last jump, when he needed to go 52-1.
"I know he's disappointed, to miss the finals by one centimeter. It doesn't come any closer than that," Harbour said. "He was just a little bit off. It's such a technical event that you don't have to be much off in the triple. He just couldn't put it all together. . . . Today, he needed a big one in those first three, and he just didn't quite get it, and it ended up costing him. I feel for him."
Texas A&M's Latario Collie won the event with an opening jump of 55-8 ¼ before passing on all three attempts in the finals after suffering an apparent leg injury. Auburn's Shawn Johnson bumped Obi out of the top nine with a 52-6 jump on his third attempt in the prelims and ended up fifth at 53-5.
Obi still has one outdoor season of eligibility remaining after missing the 2014 season with an injury and will also compete in the Olympic Trials next month in Nigeria.
"That would mean the world, because both of my parents are from Nigeria," he said. "For me to be able to represent them and our country, that would be a great feeling."
Baylor will also send several competitors to the U.S. Junior Outdoor Championships June 24-26 in Clovis, Calif., while quarter-miler George Caddick is trying to earn an Olympic berth for Great Britain and half-miler Olicia Williams has a qualifying spot for the U.S. Olympic Trials that will be held back in Eugene.
"I'm always a half-glass-full guy, so we'll take the positives and build on it and be more determined to be better next year," Harbour said. "We lost some incredible leaders the last two years, and we've got to get a little bit of fire back on the ladies' side. I really liked our men and I felt like if we hit up here with our 4x4 (relay) and Wil (London) and Felix, we could end up finishing on a pretty good not compared to where we started. It just didn't happen."
