Curtis Beach

[DCDevil1]

Duke track has an elite decathlete in freshman Curtis Beach. He is currently 3rd in NCAA championships after 7 events and I think he has 4 personal bests already:

100m 10.78
400m 46.9
Discus 124-11
Shot put 39-7 3/4

He is close to PR's in other events:

Long Jump 24-1 3/4
High Jump 6-7 1/2
110 hurdles 14.76


This is an epic performance so far. He is crushing the UNC guy who won the ACC championship. Amazing.

[roywhite]

Duke track has an elite decathlete in freshman Curtis Beach. He is currently 3rd in NCAA championships after 7 events and I think he has 4 personal bests already:

100m 10.78
400m 46.9
Discus 124-11
Shot put 39-7 3/4

He is close to PR's in other events:

Long Jump 24-1 3/4
High Jump 6-7 1/2
110 hurdles 14.76


This is an epic performance so far. He is crushing the UNC guy who won the ACC championship. Amazing.

Yeah, I agree the guy is pretty special.

We've had some discussion in the NCAA Track thread on this page. Maybe it would be better to combine this thread with that.

Curtis has some outstanding performances in virtually all the running and jumping events of the decathlon. His biggest area for improvement is in the throws---shot, discus, and javelin. But, if an athlete bulks up for those events, he generally sacrifices speed or endurance in another event. Just another challenging aspect of the decathlon, which also requires great concentration and personal management.

Go, Curtis.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Please don't combine the threads. Curtis is a completely separate competitor from Juliet, who has already completed her event. I want to read about Curtis without being distracted by other athletes we may have competing in other events. They each should have their own threads too. Just as if we had a basketball team competing, it should have its own thread, not lumped together with others. I despise big, long, lumped together combined threads.

[MCFinARL]

After the pole vault, where he finished 8th, Curtis Beach is in 4th place. But he is looking very solid, with 2 events to go, for a top 8, all-American finish. Terrific performance for a freshman! And he is almost 200 points ahead of the UNC competitor, so cross your fingers, folks.

[burnspbesq]

Curtis beat his season best in the javelin on his first throw. If he can improve that by a couple of meters, and equal his season best (which is the fastest decathlon 1,500 in the country this year) in the 1,500, he could break 8,000 points. The guys in second and third place have ripped off huge throws, and the leader (Miller Moss of Clemson) hasn't, so it's likely to be really close going into the 1,500.

[roywhite]

Curtis is now in 6th place after 9 events.

Standings after 9 events (http://www.ncaa.com/content/di-outdoor-track-field-live-results)

The final event is the 1500 meters, one of Beach's best, so he could still accomplish a few things, like moving up a couple places and maybe exceeding 8000 points.

Really good showing by Curts.

[SCMatt33]

Curtis is now in 6th place after 9 events.

Standings after 9 events (http://www.ncaa.com/content/di-outdoor-track-field-live-results)

The final event is the 1500 meters, one of Beach's best, so he could still accomplish a few things, like moving up a couple places and maybe exceeding 8000 points.

Really good showing by Curts.

It is also worth mentioning that if he holds his spot in the top 8, he will also earn All-America status as well earn Duke a place in the team standings.

EDIT: BTW, His season best decathlon score coming in was 7543 at the ACC championships. Seeing as he already has 7124 after 9 events, he will likely blow past that score by several hundred points.

[Bluedog]

What a great showing! He destroyed the competition at the 1500 meters, coming in first by over 7 seconds and ended up with 8084 points, second only to SR Morrison from Cal with 8118 points. The rest of the All-Americans (top 8) were seniors or juniors and Beach is just a freshman. Amazing really, especially considering Duke is not a traditional powerhouse in track and field. I don't think Beach is even on full scholarship this year (but will be his other years if I recall correctly; I think there are only 2-3 male scholarships to divvy up at Duke).

http://www.ncaa.com/content/di-outdoor-track-field-live-results

Edit: He's the ONLY freshman who even made it to the competition.

[MCFinARL]

What a great showing! He destroyed the competition at the 1500 meters, coming in first by over 7 seconds and ended up with 8084 points, second only to SR Morrison from Cal with 8118 points. The rest of the All-Americans (top 8) were seniors or juniors and Beach is just a freshman. Amazing really, especially considering Duke is not a traditional powerhouse in track and field. I don't think Beach is even on full scholarship this year (but will be his other years if I recall correctly; I think there are only 2-3 male scholarships to divvy up at Duke).

http://www.ncaa.com/content/di-outdoor-track-field-live-results

Edit: He's the ONLY freshman who even made it to the competition.

Very exciting! It's a shame they didn't have live video feed of this because it was delayed from yesterday (or if they did, it wasn't working on my computer).

[sagegrouse]

What a great showing! He destroyed the competition at the 1500 meters, coming in first by over 7 seconds and ended up with 8084 points, second only to SR Morrison from Cal with 8118 points. The rest of the All-Americans (top 8) were seniors or juniors and Beach is just a freshman. Amazing really, especially considering Duke is not a traditional powerhouse in track and field. I don't think Beach is even on full scholarship this year (but will be his other years if I recall correctly; I think there are only 2-3 male scholarships to divvy up at Duke).

http://www.ncaa.com/content/di-outdoor-track-field-live-results

Edit: He's the ONLY freshman who even made it to the competition.

The throwing events are the biggest opportunity for improvement, esp. javelin (<130 feet). Steady progress in discus and shot and a leap forward in javelin could produce 8500 points, which would be a collegiate record. Of course, his running times are phenomenal and may be hard to repeat on a regular basis.

All the best to Curtis, who is clearly living up to his projections, and congratulations to the coaching staff.

sagegrouse

[Bluedog]

Somebody is reporting that Beach's 3:59.13 shattered the American collegiate record for a 1500m time in a decathlon. In fact, somebody else says that this time in the second fastest 1500m in decathlon history. Does that sound possible? Just looking up times from the last Olympics in Beijing, the best time was 4:26.77, nearly 30 seconds slower. Although I realize the conditions weren't the same so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison.

http://www.tweetdeck.com/twitter/DUBulldogs/~jO12X

http://twitter.com/#!/leav620/statuses/79227773188702208

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Me n%27s_decathlon#1500m

Edit: I guess conflicting information. Now I see "second-fastest in meet history" and "shatters stadium record" - I guess need to wait for official press release.

[MulletMan]

Somebody is reporting that Beach's 3:59.13 shattered the American collegiate record for a 1500m time in a decathlon. In fact, somebody else says that this time in the second fastest 1500m in decathlon history. Does that sound possible? Just looking up times from the last Olympics in Beijing, the best time was 4:26.77, nearly 30 seconds slower. Although I realize the conditions weren't the same so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison.

http://www.tweetdeck.com/twitter/DUBulldogs/~jO12X

http://twitter.com/#!/leav620/statuses/79227773188702208

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Me n%27s_decathlon#1500m

Edit: I guess conflicting information. Now I see "second-fastest in meet history" and "shatters stadium record" - I guess need to wait for official press release.

Looks like he missed the fastest time ever by about half a second according to USTFA.

Linky (http://www.ustfccca.org/2011/06/featured/ncaa-division-i-championships-day-three-as-it-happens-notes)

[DukieInKansas]

Congratulations to Curtis Beach. Another Duke athlete shines brightly!

[nmduke2001]

Can someone clear this up? I am 99% sure that Curtis is a sophomore and goduke has him listed as such:
http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&SPID=1835&SPSID=22497

why does the NCAA site have him as a freshman?

Great job, nonetheless.

[gw67]

Running the metric mile in 3:59 after competing in nine track and field events is really impressive and the youngster is to be congratulated for a terrific performance. Was the NCAA decathlon held over three days? Normally, it is five events each of two days but the posts make it appear to be over three days. In any case, an extraordinary performance. I got to know a fella from Fairfax Virginia who competed in the decathlon for several years after college. Normally, decathletes don't hit their peak until they close in on 30. Beach still has a ways to go to hit his stride.

gw67

[Bluedog]

Can someone clear this up? I am 99% sure that Curtis is a sophomore and goduke has him listed as such:
http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&SPID=1835&SPSID=22497

why does the NCAA site have him as a freshman?

Great job, nonetheless.

I could be wrong as I'm guessing a bit, but I think that while he is an academic sophomore, for outdoor track & field he has four years of eligibility remaining due to an injury last year. The NCAA considers indoor and outdoor track two different sports, so while he competed indoors last season, I believe he can redshirt the outdoor sport since he missed the majority of last season.


Running the metric mile in 3:59 after competing in nine track and field events is really impressive and the youngster is to be congratulated for a terrific performance. Was the NCAA decathlon held over three days? Normally, it is five events each of two days but the posts make it appear to be over three days.

I'm fairly sure weather caused it to be pushed to three days (thunderstorms).

[roywhite]

I could be wrong as I'm guessing a bit, but I think that while he is an academic sophomore, for outdoor track & field he has four years of eligibility remaining due to an injury last year. The NCAA considers indoor and outdoor track two different sports, so while he competed indoors last season, I believe he can redshirt the outdoor sport since he missed the majority of last season.

I'm fairly sure weather caused it to be pushed to three days (thunderstorms).

Correct on both points.

Curtis set the high school decathlon record (just recently broken by a kid who will be attending Arkansas next year) in 2009; he was a Duke freshman last year, but missed the outdoor sesaon due to injury, and has freshman eligibility (don't know if he plans to stay for 5 years).

He is an outstanding athlete obviously, whose best events are middle distance runs. I'd say the rain delay in the competition gave him an opportunity for rest and a chance to turn in such a superb 1500m time today instead of having to run it as the last event on the 2nd day. In fact, his best individual event may be the 800m, which is not part of the decathlon events. And, yes, his biggest area for improvement are the throws, though he did well in this meet relative to his previous performances.

I'll throw this out---we occasionally have discussions here about the greatest Duke athlete of all time. I submit that if Curtis Beach continues his great work and becomes an NCAA decathlon champion, he should be somewhere in that discussion. The decathlon is an amazing test of speed, strength, stamina, technique, and concentration. Great job, Curtis.

[nmduke2001]

Correct on both points.

Curtis set the high school decathlon record (just recently broken by a kid who will be attending Arkansas next year) in 2009; he was a Duke freshman last year, but missed the outdoor sesaon due to injury, and has freshman eligibility (don't know if he plans to stay for 5 years).

He is an outstanding athlete obviously, whose best events are middle distance runs. I'd say the rain delay in the competition gave him an opportunity for rest and a chance to turn in such a superb 1500m time today instead of having to run it as the last event on the 2nd day. In fact, his best individual event may be the 800m, which is not part of the decathlon events. And, yes, his biggest area for improvement are the throws, though he did well in this meet relative to his previous performances.

I'll throw this out---we occasionally have discussions here about the greatest Duke athlete of all time. I submit that if Curtis Beach continues his great work and becomes an NCAA decathlon champion, he should be somewhere in that discussion. The decathlon is an amazing test of speed, strength, stamina, technique, and concentration. Great job, Curtis.

Now, I remember he was injured. Thanks for the reminder, both or you.

I have met Curtis' parents at Duke events here in NM. They are really nice people. They told me that Curtis really hopes to make the Olympics in 2016 and chose Duke specifically because of the assistant coach who was a former decathlete.

[ikiru36]

Hardly. Although Curtis' promise was previously recognized and noted (as a HS National record holder), this is really a tremendous achievement, all the more so given his youth. It's a really exciting time for Duke track and field, now and likely in the coming years as well!

Go Curtis Beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTG Track Devils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GTHCGTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[uh_no]

I'm fairly sure weather caused it to be pushed to three days (thunderstorms).

Not to be a spoil sport, but the fact that it was held over 3 days certainly helped his 1500 time....that was all he did today i think? Therefore its likely that it will take him a while to match that performance in the 1500 in decathlon competition after having done 4 events previously that day. Also of note, any record set over 3 days would not count, nor would any where a SINGLE one of the 10 events was wind aided.

That said, improving the throws will be a hindrance to his distance running. Unfortunately, though, there are 3 throwing events, so one can't afford to compromise there. As he builds upper body strength, his 1500m times won't get better, and will likely end up slower.

THe current record holder is Trey Hardee, who is the current reigning world champion at the decathlon, and the guy who has the next closest mark (only a few points behind) is Ashton Eaton who is the world record holder in the heptathlon (not collegiate...WORLD..as in ever) so if curtis is able to get up towards those marks, he's among elite company. Again: he needs to do it over 2 days though.

[burnspbesq]

Not to be a spoil sport, but the fact that it was held over 3 days certainly helped his 1500 time....that was all he did today i think? Therefore its likely that it will take him a while to match that performance in the 1500 in decathlon competition after having done 4 events previously that day.

Everybody in the competition had the same advantage. Nobody else ran 3:59. Did anybody else beat their season best by 15 seconds?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Everybody in the competition had the same advantage. Nobody else ran 3:59. Did anybody else beat their season best by 15 seconds?
Let me check. Still looking... umm........... NOPE! :cool::cool::cool::cool:

[uh_no]

Everybody in the competition had the same advantage. Nobody else ran 3:59. Did anybody else beat their season best by 15 seconds?

what i said had absolutely nothing to do with whether his second place finish was 'valid' or not....you're correct...everyone had the same circumstances

what I DID say was that the 1500 time was artificially fast due to it being held on the third day....meaning curtis (and every other athlete in the contest) was 'fresher' than normal....meaning that any time/score posted in this decathlon cannot be effectively compared to a standard decathlon. If this is held on the second day...no chance in chapel hill that curtis beats his PR by 15 seconds....probably still would have won by the same large margin, but everyone's times times would have been slower, and everyones final score lower

[roywhite]

what i said had absolutely nothing to do with whether his second place finish was 'valid' or not....you're correct...everyone had the same circumstances

what I DID say was that the 1500 time was artificially fast due to it being held on the third day....meaning curtis (and every other athlete in the contest) was 'fresher' than normal....meaning that any time/score posted in this decathlon cannot be effectively compared to a standard decathlon. If this is held on the second day...no chance in chapel hill that curtis beats his PR by 15 seconds....probably still would have won by the same large margin, but everyone's times times would have been slower, and everyones final score lower

Yeah, and if hadn't rained during the competition, maybe some of the other event scores would have been a little different, too.

This kind of nit-picking should not obscure what was a terrific performance by a fine athlete and a landmark for Duke track and field.

[roywhite]

Nice mention for Curtis in USA Today.

Duke's Beach 2nd in decathlon after record 1500 (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2011-06-10-18176260_x.htm)


Beach moved up from sixth to second in the final event and cracked the 8,000-point barrier with 8,084 points.

"I don't even know how to explain it right now. I just said at the moment that I would do the best I could and whatever happened, happened. And I don't care if it's over four or under four, as long as I ran as hard as I could," Beach said.

[Acymetric]

Not to be a spoil sport, but the fact that it was held over 3 days certainly helped his 1500 time....that was all he did today i think? Therefore its likely that it will take him a while to match that performance in the 1500 in decathlon competition after having done 4 events previously that day. Also of note, any record set over 3 days would not count, nor would any where a SINGLE one of the 10 events was wind aided.

That said, improving the throws will be a hindrance to his distance running. Unfortunately, though, there are 3 throwing events, so one can't afford to compromise there. As he builds upper body strength, his 1500m times won't get better, and will likely end up slower.

THe current record holder is Trey Hardee, who is the current reigning world champion at the decathlon, and the guy who has the next closest mark (only a few points behind) is Ashton Eaton who is the world record holder in the heptathlon (not collegiate...WORLD..as in ever) so if curtis is able to get up towards those marks, he's among elite company. Again: he needs to do it over 2 days though.

Of course, its impossible that he could both train to improve upper body strength and train to improve speed. Does every decathlete slow down over the course of their career in order to improve their throwing? Don't see what you're getting at there.

[uh_no]

Yeah, and if hadn't rained during the competition, maybe some of the other event scores would have been a little different, too.

This kind of nit-picking should not obscure what was a terrific performance by a fine athlete and a landmark for Duke track and field.

the decathlon being held over 3 days is hardly a nit-pick....its like saying a sub 10second 100m is great when there's a 5m/s tail wind....its a sub 10 second 100, but it doesn't count for anything....

It was clearly a great performance...no one said its not.

if the event was held over 3 days, it cannot be considered a record performance. There are no such stipulations about rain....perhaps we should just hold the event over 10 days so the guys can rest up for each event and completely destroy records....

[ikiru36]

the decathlon being held over 3 days is hardly a nit-pick....its like saying a sub 10second 100m is great when there's a 5m/s tail wind....its a sub 10 second 100, but it doesn't count for anything....

It was clearly a great performance...no one said its not.

if the event was held over 3 days, it cannot be considered a record performance. There are no such stipulations about rain....perhaps we should just hold the event over 10 days so the guys can rest up for each event and completely destroy records....

This seems really needlessly negative, especially on a Duke fan message board. What's the point of creating a strawman for purposes of denigrating a Blue Devil's performance? Noone was claiming this was the greatest performance by anyone ever. But a second place finish, which you later admit should not be questioned (as the field shared the same advantages), is a momentous achievement for Duke Track and Field, especially from a Sophomore (or Freshman depending upon whom you ask :0) Also, while one may question his PR's related to overall score and 1500, his individual performances in other events during the first 2 days seem fairly valid, so his increased consistency in the other 9 events in a very high pressure meet is worthy of note and congratulations.

Even bringing up the points you make, I would hope a Duke fan might note "What a tremendous performance. Too bad that it took place over 3 days which negates the validity of everyone's overall scores and his competition PR in the 1500. Nevertheless, remarkably impressive."

In any event...Good thing that none of UConn's various athletic achievements have been cash or academic/criminal leniency aided. That might be worthy of some needlessly snide comment as well.

Go Duke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Blue Devils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GTHCGTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[-jk]

This seems really needlessly negative, especially on a Duke fan message board. What's the point of creating a strawman for purposes of denigrating a Blue Devil's performance? Noone was claiming this was the greatest performance by anyone ever. But a second place finish, which you later admit should not be questioned (as the field shared the same advantages), is a momentous achievement for Duke Track and Field, especially from a Sophomore (or Freshman depending upon whom you ask :0) Also, while one may question his PR's related to overall score and 1500, his individual performances in other events during the first 2 days seem fairly valid, so his increased consistency in the other 9 events in a very high pressure meet is worthy of note and congratulations.

Even bringing up the points you make, I would hope a Duke fan might note "What a tremendous performance. Too bad that it took place over 3 days which negates the validity of everyone's overall scores and his competition PR in the 1500. Nevertheless, remarkably impressive."

In any event...Good thing that none of UConn's various athletic achievements have been cash or academic/criminal leniency aided. That might be worthy of some needlessly snide comment as well.

Go Duke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Blue Devils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GTHCGTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regardless of how much a Duke fan any of us is, Track and Field has very specific rules about whether a score or time can be eligible for a record.

It's possible to both enjoy the win, and still (ruefully) acknowledge that the score, by rule, isn't eligible without being "negative".

-jk

[Olympic Fan]

Not to hijack the thread, but I would like to point out that Duke had another heroic performance at the NCAA meet.

Cydney Ross in the finals of the women's 800m was in the middle of the pack after the first 400 meters, but she started to move up. With about 300 meters to go, she got caught in traffic and another runner stepped on her heel, causing Ross to stumble and lose a shoe.

It sounds very much like what happened to Mary Decker in the Olympics.

Only Ross didn't give up. The Duke runner finished the race with one shoe, coming in eighth place to earn All-America honors (2:06.83) and points for the Duke women's team. Ross commented on losing the shoe “but there was nothing to do about it. It was a great experience just being here.”

Great job, Cydney!

[uh_no]

http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/video.asp

For all who are interested, the Decathlon just started at the national championships and Curtis is tied for fourth after the 100m. Attached is a live stream.

[phaedrus]

http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/video.asp

For all who are interested, the Decathlon just started at the national championships and Curtis is tied for fourth after the 100m. Attached is a live stream.

In addition, Shannon Rowbury is competing today in the 1500m prelim. Tomorrow, Cydney Ross and Devotia Moore will open in the 800m prelims. Hopefully the shoes will remain in place for all.

[uh_no]

Curtis is sitting in ninth, but his last place finish in the shot (by almost a meter) showed how far that Curtis still has to come to compete on the world stage (ignoring the fact that he's one of the best collegians in the country)

[MCFinARL]

Curtis is sitting in ninth, but his last place finish in the shot (by almost a meter) showed how far that Curtis still has to come to compete on the world stage (ignoring the fact that he's one of the best collegians in the country)

Yes, the challenge for him will be to figure out how much he can improve his throwing events without messing up his running and jumping events.

[roywhite]

Curtis finished day 1 with a 48.62 in the 400m, which is a good time, but not as good as the 46.9 he had in the NCAA championships. He is now in 8th place.

Day 1 standings (http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/results/39.asp)

Ashton Eaton, who won 3 NCAA decathlon championships at Oregon, is in 1st place after a terrific day. Eaton, 23, looks to be moving up the world decathlon list in a hurry.

[phaedrus]

In addition, Shannon Rowbury is competing today in the 1500m prelim. Tomorrow, Cydney Ross and Devotia Moore will open in the 800m prelims. Hopefully the shoes will remain in place for all.

Rowbury qualified for the 1500m final yesterday. She'll be looking for a top 3 finish to lock up a World Championships spot. Unfortunately, our 800m girls did not qualify.

In addition, our Kate Van Buskirk will be competing in the 1500m Canadian national championships this weekend. We could plausibly see KVB and Rowbury compete against each other in the 1500m at Worlds.

[uh_no]

Curtis finished day 1 with a 48.62 in the 400m, which is a good time, but not as good as the 46.9 he had in the NCAA championships. He is now in 8th place.

Day 1 standings (http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/results/39.asp)

Ashton Eaton, who won 3 NCAA decathlon championships at Oregon, is in 1st place after a terrific day. Eaton, 23, looks to be moving up the world decathlon list in a hurry.

Curtis is a sophomore and has a lot of time. He will be very exciting to watch over the next couple of years.

Eaton already holding the heptathlon world record, it was only a matter of time before he started doing this in the decathlon. He set or tied 3 PRs yesterday. He put up 4603 points, which doubles to 9206 (the world record is 9036). Given having the javelin and the disc as two of his poorest events (and the second day is never as big of a scoring day) will hurt. But with his huge pr in the shot, perhaps he can do similar in the jav/disk. It would be awesome for him to break 9000.

That all said, curtis was in lane 6, right next to eaton and clay, in the running events. It must be really cool for him to be running next to a world record holder and an olympic champion.

[uh_no]

closes with a 4:12 win in the 1500 to finish 7th in the country. This kid has a bright future.

[roywhite]

Curtis gets the year off to a good start by blowing away the rest of the field in the heptathlon at the ACC Indoor Track Championships.

ACC Indoor Heptathlon Results (http://www.theacc.com/championships/12-itf-live-results.html)

Looks like a good all-around performance, and that Curtis is improving some in the shot put, also.

[roywhite]

Beach claims NCAA Indoor Heptathlon Crown (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205395455&DB_OEM_ID=4200)


NAMPA, Idaho- Curtis Beach broke one world record and six personal records on his way to being crowned the 2012 NCAA Indoor Heptathlon Champion on Saturday in Nampa, Idaho. In his final event of the day, Beach shattered his own previous world record in the 1,000 meters by running a time of 2:23.63. The Albuquerque native finished the record setting weekend with 6,138 total points.

"This is the greatest weekend ever for a Duke track and field athlete" Director of track and field Norm Ogilvie commented. "It was an incredibly gutsy performance for Curtis to go out and run the world record time at altitude. It was also an incredible coaching performance by Shawn Wilbourn."



Great job by Curtis!

[uh_no]

Beach claims NCAA Indoor Heptathlon Crown (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205395455&DB_OEM_ID=4200)



Great job by Curtis!

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?27913-Curtis-Beach-Wins-2012-NCAA-Indoor-Heptathlon

some discussion on this already.

[roywhite]

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?27913-Curtis-Beach-Wins-2012-NCAA-Indoor-Heptathlon

some discussion on this already.

glad to see this terrific performance has been noted.

fine with me if the threads are merged

[roywhite]

Curtis Beach again did something special, this time at NCAA Regional competition.

He's pointing toward the Olympic Trials decathlon later this summer, and is not competing in the decathlon for the NCAA championships. Instead, he has undertaken a very unusual double of the long jump and 800 meters. In regional competition at Jacksonville, he advanced in both events.

Four Blue Devils Advance to Championships on Day One
(http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22490&SPID=1835&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205433964&DB_OEM_ID=4200)


Beach started his day strong by leaping a personal best 24-11.25 (7.60) in the men's long jump. The mark was a one and a half inch improvement and good enough for ninth place overall and more importantly a spot in the NCAA Championships. Of course, after the four hour competition in the heat of the day, the multi-event athlete was a little sunburned but he wasn't finished yet. Later in the evening, the Albuquerque native showed off his middle distance skills by qualifying for the men's 800 quarterfinals with a time of 1:49.70. The quarterfinal heats will be run tomorrow beginning at 7:00 p.m., and will determine the final field for Des Moines.

"The Curtis Beach double was pretty historic," Director of Track and Field Norm Ogilvie commented. "I don't think anyone on the collegiate level has ever jumped 25 feet and gone sub 1:50 on the same day. When he came back to run the 800, he was the only guy in the race who had spent four hours in the hot sun so that was impressive."

[phaedrus]

That's simply unheard of.

[DukieInKansas]

Congratulations, Curtis! Keep up the good work. Looking forward to watching you in the Olympics this summer.

[uh_no]

Congratulations, Curtis! Keep up the good work. Looking forward to watching you in the Olympics this summer.

For the record, he also qualified for nationals in the 800.

[BlueDevil16]

Very impressive and the track team has one of their best recruiting classes coming in, should be interesting to watch Curtis and the team progress.

[nmduke2001]

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205433782&DB_OEM_ID=4200

It is amazing that Curtis has a legit shot of winning the 800 meters in the NCAA Championships despite the fact that it isn't his real event.

[uh_no]

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205433782&DB_OEM_ID=4200

It is amazing that Curtis has a legit shot of winning the 800 meters in the NCAA Championships despite the fact that it isn't his real event.

I would say "legit" is a bit of a stretch. I love what curtis is doing. Its awesome for him, the team, and Duke, but curtis' time of 1:47.75 is not only the best he's ever run, but still several seconds off the times of the guys coming out of the west region. 10 of the 12 qualifiers out of the west region have season's bests better than curtis has ever run in the 800. While Curtis may very well PR at the finals meet, several of these guys are running in the 1:44's, and curtis is at 1:47.

Now, anyone has a shot in a slow tactical race, I'll grant you that, but he would have to likely PR not once, but twice.

If anything, he is a long shot.

In the words of Robert Johnson (assistant coach at cornell, and a very prominent journalist in the online community)

Before I get to my main point, let me be clear here about one thing.

1) He has ZERO CHANCE of making the Olympic team in the 800 this year. ZERO.

2) I would rate his chances of making the 800 final in the NCAA as way less than "decent" but the guy did beat a dying Kitur so it will be fun to watch.


So again, while This is awesome, I think we need to be very realistic in that curtis' chances of winning the title in the 800 are extremely slim.

[uh_no]

Curtis unfortunately failed to qualify for the final in the 800 in what turned out to be the slowest heat.

16th in the country isn't too bad though.

He also did not qualify for the finals in the long jump and finished 15th overall.

Still an accomplishment to make it to the meet in two events, look forward to seeing him in the trials in a couple weeks.

[roywhite]

Curtis is in 7th place after day 1 of decathlon competition in the US Olympic Trials.

Day 1 results (http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2012/U-S--Olympic-Team-Trials-TF/Results.aspx)
Note: this link doesn't seem to work well in Internet Explorer, but does in Mozilla Firefox and other browsers.

He had good performances in the 100 meters, long jump, and 400 meters, but lost ground in the shot put (one of his weaker events normally) and really a subpar performance in the high jump, where he cleared 6'1.5".

Good luck to him; continued experience in competitions at this level should benefit him; he could be an even better candidate for the 2016 and 2020 games, based on the prime age for many decathletes.

[camion]

I watched a bit of it last night and many of the events were conducted in a driving rain. That makes the high jump in particular difficult and dangerous.

[roywhite]

By the way, looking at some of the performances of Ashton Eaton, currently in first place:

100 meters 10.21
Long jump 27'0"
Shot put 46'7.25"
High Jump 6'8.75"
400 meters 46.70

These are really outstanding, and even more so with the note about the rain that camion adds above.

[camion]

By the way, looking at some of the performances of Ashton Eaton, currently in first place:

100 meters 10.21
Long jump 27'0"
Shot put 46'7.25"
High Jump 6'8.75"
400 meters 46.70

These are really outstanding, and even more so with the note about the rain that camion adds above.

Eaton was truly impressive. In the running events Eaton would cross the finish line and a bit later here comes everyone else.

[uh_no]

By the way, looking at some of the performances of Ashton Eaton, currently in first place:

100 meters 10.21
Long jump 27'0"
Shot put 46'7.25"
High Jump 6'8.75"
400 meters 46.70

These are really outstanding, and even more so with the note about the rain that camion adds above.

Not only outstanding, but the first two are decathlon records, meaning he had the highest score ever through two events. The rain likely hampered his and everyone's abilities in the 400 and especially the high jump, and this may turn out to stop him from getting the american record at this meet. Amazing to think this guy is just 24 and not even in his prime yet.

Shame Curtis had an off day, but one has to remember that he was still a bit of a long shot. His best of 8089 (?) was set over 3 days and i'm not sure he's broken 8000 otherwise (going 7764(?) at ACCs this year). Each of clay hardee and eaton have bests over 8800. He'll get there, no doubt, and this is certainly great experience competing against arguably the best 3 decathletes in the world. I expect to watch him turn in a nasty 1500 later today though!

[sagegrouse]

Shame Curtis had an off day, but one has to remember that he was still a bit of a long shot. His best of 8089 (?) was set over 3 days and i'm not sure he's broken 8000 otherwise (going 7764(?) at ACCs this year). Each of clay hardee and eaton have bests over 8800. He'll get there, no doubt, and this is certainly great experience competing against arguably the best 3 decathletes in the world. I expect to watch him turn in a nasty 1500 later today though!

The only TV coverage I could find was on NBC for one hour. Surely there are other telecasts. -- sage

[uh_no]

The only TV coverage I could find was on NBC for one hour. Surely there are other telecasts. -- sage

nope....its stupid annoying for those of us who are big track fans....they will likely show recap of the first four events of the day, and then maybe the 1500 if its close...the event is on the track during the live telecast....but they will probably use that for a commercial break...

[sagegrouse]

nope....its stupid annoying for those of us who are big track fans....they will likely show recap of the first four events of the day, and then maybe the 1500 if its close...the event is on the track during the live telecast....but they will probably use that for a commercial break...

With Curtis in the field for the 1500, NBC will have to use a split screen to cover the race. -- sage

[uh_no]

With Curtis in the field for the 1500, NBC will have to use a split screen to cover the race. -- sage

no doubt!

FWIW the replay of last nights coverage is on NBC sports network (old versus) and they have some coverage of day 1 of the dec....i think they show curtis' 400 and 100....but i forget...

[SilkyJ]

^ Yep, showing it (yesterday's events) now. Curtis got 2nd in the 400: 47.82. Despite that, he still wasn't in the top 5 after the 1st day. No idea how he's doing today and I dont recall which events are his strengths, so not sure whether he's got a shot or not...

[uh_no]

^ Yep, showing it (yesterday's events) now. Curtis got 2nd in the 400: 47.82. Despite that, he still wasn't in the top 5 after the 1st day. No idea how he's doing today and I dont recall which events are his strengths, so not sure whether he's got a shot or not...

He has the best deca 1500m of all time, not ratified as a best, since it was run on the third day.

RELATIVE TO PROS: He is very strong in the running events in general, decent jumper (especially long) and very poor in the throws. It is largely his extremely outstanding 1500m (and the exponential nature of the scoring) that gets him his good scores, which is a very non-standard way to be good at the triathlon....but fun to watch. He will likely not make up any ground on the leaders in the field events today, as even eaton, who is generally considered to be the worst thrower of the three favorites, is better than curtis.

The only ofthe top three who is doing poorly is bryan clay, but his best event, the discus (for which I believe he holds the decathlon record) is up next. Ultimately there are too many guys between curtis and the top three, and too many events which they will mostly outscore him for him to be able to make it all up in the 1500. He would also have to hit 8200 points to go to the olympics, which i'm not sure even a PR in each of the remaining events would get him (though I haven't done the math)

[uh_no]

update:

bryan clay was disqualified, thus leaving curtis 126 points out of third place, and with three events to go curtis needs 2668 points for the A standard, assuming he comes near 4:00 for the 1500, that means he needs 1715 points in the vault and jav, unfortunately his PRs put him at 1408 points for those two events.

He may sneak on the podium, but he is likely going to come up several hundred points short of the A standard to get on the team.

[SCMatt33]

Classy move by Curtis. The final event, the 1500, is one of his best, but with no chance to qualify, he pulled up in the final meters to allow Ashton Eaton to cross the line first. Eaton ran a personal best 1500 to set the world record for the decathlon.

[uh_no]

Curtis beach didn't make it, but was incredibly classy as he stopped with 10m to go so that ashton eaton could win the 1500m race as he set the world record. Extremely classy/

[ricks68]

Is there any difference in the number of points given by the order of finish? In other words, did Eaton benefit by finishing ahead of Curtis as far as points are concerned? From my extremely limited decathalon knowledge, I would think not, but I would like some verification, please.

ricks

[vick]

Is there any difference in the number of points given by the order of finish? In other words, did Eaton benefit by finishing ahead of Curtis as far as points are concerned? From my extremely limited decathalon knowledge, I would think not, but I would like some verification, please.

ricks

No, it's purely based on converting each distance, height, or time into a number based on a table (http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/Competitions/TechnicalArea/ScoringTables_CE_744.pdf), position doesn't enter into it.

[devilsadvocate85]

Curtis beach didn't make it, but was incredibly classy as he stopped with 10m to go so that ashton eaton could win the 1500m race as he set the world record. Extremely classy/

Even more telling -- look at the joy Beach is showing as the three realize the world record has been broken.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/06/23/ashton-eaton-sets-world-record-in-decathlon/?intcmp=features

[uh_no]

No, it's purely based on converting each distance, height, or time into a number based on a table (http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/Competitions/TechnicalArea/ScoringTables_CE_744.pdf), position doesn't enter into it.

Perhaps more intuitively, an exponential equation is used to translate the performance (in seconds or meters) into a score. This is how the tables are calculated.

[MCFinARL]

Even more telling -- look at the joy Beach is showing as the three realize the world record has been broken.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/06/23/ashton-eaton-sets-world-record-in-decathlon/?intcmp=features

Yeah, I think this qualifies as a great moment in sports--Eaton's accomplishment was extremely impressive, as he dominated the competition and, among other things, posted a long jump of 27 feet, which would have tied him for 2nd and sent him to the Olympics in the separate long jump event, and the look on Beach's face is, as you note, one of sheer joy.

In other news, two Duke students who will represent the US at the Olympics are divers Nick McCrory, in individual and synchronized men's platform diving, and Abby Johnston, in synchronized women's springboard diving.

[roywhite]

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22490&SPID=1835&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=207199766&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Curtis Beach, in his first 200m race in competition broke the Duke school record with a time of 21.30.

The previous record goes back to 1956, when Olympian Dave Sime ran a 21.34.

Curtis now has a top-5 Duke performance in 10 different events; he's an amazing athlete.

[sagegrouse]

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22490&SPID=1835&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=207199766&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Curtis Beach, in his first 200m race in competition broke the Duke school record with a time of 21.30.

The previous record goes back to 1956, when Olympian Dave Sime ran a 21.34.

Curtis now has a top-5 Duke performance in 10 different events; he's an amazing athlete.

Impressive performance, but I doubt the story. Sime ran a 20.0 to set the world record while a Duke sophomore.

And I can remember one of my former teammates running a 21.3 in '62 or '63 at Duke stadium.

sagegrouse

[roywhite]

Impressive performance, but I doubt the story. Sime ran a 20.0 to set the world record while a Duke sophomore.

And I can remember one of my former teammates running a 21.3 in '62 or '63 at Duke stadium.

sagegrouse

Fair point. If I recall reading, Sime's 20.0 was in the 220-yd dash; nearly the same distance as 200m and certainly faster than 21.3. Sime didn't compete in the 1956 Olympics due to injury, so he may not have run a faster 200m while a Duke student.

[uh_no]

Fair point. If I recall reading, Sime's 20.0 was in the 220-yd dash; nearly the same distance as 200m and certainly faster than 21.3. Sime didn't compete in the 1956 Olympics due to injury, so he may not have run a faster 200m while a Duke student.

220yd is about 201m, so necessarily faster than a 20s 200m.

Either way, that's pretty quick.

[vick]

220yd is about 201m, so necessarily faster than a 20s 200m.

Either way, that's pretty quick.

Considering the world record in the (as you point out) shorter 200m was 20.6, indeed. I'm not sure it's an apples-to-apples comparison, though--was it a straight-line run, as the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2000/sep/07/features11.g23) seems to say?

[sagegrouse]

Fair point. If I recall reading, Sime's 20.0 was in the 220-yd dash; nearly the same distance as 200m and certainly faster than 21.3. Sime didn't compete in the 1956 Olympics due to injury, so he may not have run a faster 200m while a Duke student.

I think it is fair to wonder whether Dave Sime ever ran a 220 that was over 21.5. I'll have to do some digging.

Even in his late 30s, there were reports that he outran everyone on the Miami Dolphins in the 40. (He was a Miami ophthalmologist -- Duke MD).

sagegrouse