EUGENE, Ore. -- A long season of track and field finally ended here Thursday for Abilene Christian University senior
Nick Jones. But he was still wishing for more.
Jones, a four-time NCAA Division II champion in the discus throw, managed a best of 188 feet, 8 inches (57.50 meters) here Thursday at historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon. That was well under his personal best of 203-3 (61.95 meters) and good for ninth place at the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials -- the selection meet for America's team in London.
It was the second straight year for Jones to finish ninth at the U.S. championships in track and field.
Jones, 23, the first Wildcat to make a U.S. Olympic trials final in a throwing event, was one of only two collegiate throwers to make the discus final of 12 athletes here. Thursday's competition was conducted in light rain with a temperature of 66 degrees.
Lance Brooks of Nike, 28, former collegiate thrower at Millikin University in Decatur, Ill., won the event after reaching for the first time the Olympic automatic qualifying standard with a throw of 213-9 (65.15 meters) on his final attempt.
Also making the U.S. team for London were Jarred Rome, 35, trials champion in 2004, at 207-10 and former Texas Tech thrower Jason Young, 31, who made his first Olympic team with a toss of 203-11. Both came in with A standard (65.00 meters) throws in the qualifying period that started May 1, 2011.
A disappointed Jones said, "I had no drive out today, and I felt like that in warmups. I took a lot of throws trying to fix it."
Jones, the youngest of 12 finalists in Thursday's discus, opened with 187-10 (57.26 meters) and was sixth after the first round. He fouled in the second round to fall in the rankings, then moved up to eighth after his third throw of 188-8 (57.50).
Thursday's top eight of 12 throwers were awarded three more throws in the finals, and it appeared Jones would be awarded three more attempts. But Dan Hytinen, 26, a former NCAA Division III champion from Wisconsin-Whitewater, improved to 195-10 (59.69) on the next-to-last throw of the third round to knock Jones to a non-advancing ninth.
"I was breaking up in the middle, and the discus kept going up," Jones continued. "I had a good grip, and the ring felt fine. It was just breaking up in the middle. I didn't see the throw (by Hytinen), but I saw where it landed.
"It's been a long season," Jones added. "I'm going to take some time off and start lifting and training again."
The only other collegiate discus thrower here Thursday was Oklahoma's Luke Bryant, who also failed to advance past round three with a best of 187-7 for 11th.
Jones, a senior who graduated from Abilene Christian in May with a degree in business management, is also a four-time Lone Star Conference winner in the discus throw. This year he also won the NCAA Division II indoor title in the shot put and finished as shot put runner-up in the outdoor meet last month in Pueblo, Colo.
He's a three-time LSC shot put champion for former Wildcat football letterman.
Thursday's competition included three past 35-year-old Olympians, three former U.S. champions, and former discus champions from each of the NCAA divisions I, II and III.
Jones is the first ACU student-athlete in a current year of eligibility to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials in two events since sprinter Bobby Morrow ran the 100 and 200 in the 1956 trials as a sophomore. He later won three gold medals in the sprints and 400 relay for the U.S. in Melbourne, Australia.
Jones is a graduate of Amarillo Tascosa and a former Texas high school state champion in the shot put.
