“I WAS REALLY ANXIOUS in that hotel room, ready to get going,” said Duke Kicinski, who couldn’t wait to do his part to help Texas Tech get the points it would need to capture the team title.
The Red Raider senior’s excitement showed on his opener, a 199-3 (60.63) that put him in the lead after the first round. Payton Otterdahl of North Dakota State indicated that he too would be in contention with his 196-10 (60.00) opener. Favored Greg Thompson of Maryland got a rough start with his 177-4 (54.95); he would reach a best of only 188-2 (57.37) and ended up 12th. Kicinski’s next effort flew out to 203-3 (61.96), giving him an even bigger cushion, but in the next round that cushion fell to pieces. Kicinski went 190-9 (58.15) and watched as Alabama’s Kord Ferguson put himself at the top of the results with a 203-7 (62.07). Then Otterdahl one-upped them both, reaching 205-0 (62.48) to lead going into the final three rounds.
Kicinski knew that he was in the points safely, but he also knew that 10 would do a lot more for the Red Raiders than 6. On his fourth attempt, he whirled the platter out to 205-2 (62.53) to regain the lead, by a mere 2 inches. Ferguson responded with a 199-5 (60.79) and Otterdahl would hit 203-10 (62.12). After a foul in round 5, Kicinski reached a solid 204-1 (62.22) for his closer. He had to wait to see what his competitors would do. Ferguson fouled his second in a row; he would stay in 3rd. The day’s final effort would see Otterdahl hit 200-4 (61.07) to remain in 2nd.
Said the 23-year-old Kicinski, who won the Div. II title for West Texas A&M in ’16, “I felt really good coming into the day, I felt like I was ready to throw well. I felt confident.” He added, “I started off pretty well. I got a few good throws in to get me into the finals. I really wasn’t throwing well. I thought I could have thrown further but I put a good throw together and it was far enough.”
NCAA MEN’S DISCUS RESULTS
FINAL
(June 07)
1. Duke Kicinski (TxT) 205-2 (62.53)
(199-3, 203-3, 190-9, 205-2, f, 204-1) (60.73, 61.96, 58.15, 62.53, f, 62.22);
2. Payton Otterdahl (NDSt) 205-0 (62.48)
(196-10, 192-4, 205-0, 203-10, 198-7, 200-4) (60.00, 58.63, 62.48, 62.12, 60.53, 61.07);
3. Kord Ferguson (Al) 203-7 (62.07)
(191-6, f, 203-7, 199-5, f, f) (58.37, f, 62.07, 60.79, f, f);
4. Dotun Ogundeji (UCLA) 198-0 (60.35)
(191-7, f, 186-8, 198-0, f, 183-6) (58.41, f, 56.91, 60.35, f, 55.94);
5. Denzel Comenentia’ (Ga) 196-9 (59.97)
(191-3, f, 192-0, f, 186-2, 196-9) (58.29, f, 58.53, f, 56.74, 59.97);
6. ***Samuel Welsh (Harv) 195-4 (59.54)
(170-9, 192-1, 195-4, f, f, 193-9) (52.04, 58.54, 59.54, f, f, 59.07);
7. ***Elijah Mason (Wa) 191-3 (58.29);
8. Brett Neelly’ (KsSt) 191-0 (58.23);
9. **Jerimiah Evans (MiSt) 189-9 (57.85);
10. Nathan Dunivan (Web) 189-5 (57.75);
11. Ben Hammer (SD) 189-2 (57.66);
12. Greg Thompson’ (Md) 188-2 (57.37);
13. ***Roje Stona’ (Clem) 187-11 (57.29);
14. *Michael Renard (Army) 187-11 (57.28);
15. *Charles Lenford (Ky) 186-6 (56.86);
16. Carlos Davis (Nb) 185-4 (56.51);
17. ***Adam Dawson (CoSt) 181-0 (55.16);
18. **Iffy Joyner (Cal) 181-0 (55.16);
19. Noah Castle (Ky) 179-2 (54.63);
20. **Jonah Wilson (Wa) 178-10 (54.50);
21. *Grant Voeks (Clem) 178-0 (54.25);
22. ***Adar Sheere’ (Mem) 174-10 (53.30);
23. Khalil Davis (Nb) 168-7 (51.39);
24. Kelly Cook (WM) 168-4 (51.30).
