Biography
CAREER
Three-time All-Ivy League honoree (2019, 2021 2022) … Finished career No. 2 in school history for most field goals made (36), No. 1 in most points scored by a placekicker (183), No. 1 in most extra points (75), and he holds the school-record for most 50-yard field goals (3) … Is one of only two kickers in Ivy League history to convert three or more 50-yard field goals in a career … Played graduate season at Penn State.
2022
Member of Dream Bowl Roster that played in Japan …NFF Hampshire Society Inductee … First Team All-Ivy League … Earned team’s Special Teams Award … Appeared in 10 games … Handled placekicking and kickoff duties…Was 11-for-16 on field goals and 28-for-28 on extra points … Knocked in three field goals against Dartmouth … Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 26 … Set Columbia record with a 53-yard field goal in season opener at Marist.
2021
Second Team All-Ivy League honoree as a junior placekicker …Earned Third Team All-Ivy League honors by Phil Steele Magazine … Earned the Special Teams Award at team banquet … Named a preseason First Team All-Ivy League selection as a placekicker by Phil Steele Magazine … Earned Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honors on Sept. 20 … Ranked No. 8 nationally and No. 1 in the Ivy League in field goals per game (1.60) … Set Columbia season school-records for most field goals (16), most field goal attempts (24), most points scored by a placekicker (73), and most touchbacks (38) … Also ranked No. 4 in the Ivy League in total scoring (73 points) and No. 2 in kick scoring (73) … Converted 2-2 field goals, including a 41 and 25-yarder, registered five touchbacks and f-44 on extra points for 10 points in season finale at Cornell (Nov. 20) … Converted 42-yard field goal vs. Brown (Nov. 13) … Tied career-high with three field goals in four attempts (30, 25, 40) with 3-3 on extra points for 12 points, and six touchbacks at Yale (Oct. 30) … Converted 2-2 on field goals, including 34 and 41 yarders, at Dartmouth (Oct. 22) … Converted three field goals (32, 31, 20), 2-2 on extra points and totaled six touchbacks vs. Penn (Oct. 16) … Converted two field goals and two PATs at Central Connecticut State (Oct. 9) … Converted 5-5 extra points vs. Georgetown (Sept. 25) … Converted a career-high 3-3 field goals, 4-4 extra points, and four touchbacks in eight kickoffs in season opener vs. Marist (Sept. 18) … Named Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts.
2020
Named a preseason First Team All-Ivy League selection by Phil Steele Magazine … Season canceled due to COVID pandemic.
2019
Earned Third Team Freshman All-America honors by Phil Steele Magazine … Earned Honorable Mention All-Ivy League honors as a first-year placekicker … Second Team All-Ivy League selection by Phil Steele Magazine … Earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors on Sept. 23 and Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honors on Oct. 21 … Two-time honorable mention pick for the STATS FCS weekly Special Teams/Rookie of the Week award … Named the team’s co-Special Teams Player of the Year at team banquet … Saw action in all 10 games a first-year placekicker ... After only three games at Columbia, became the first kicker in school history to convert two 50-yard field goals and just the fifth kicker in Ivy League history (since 1956) to convert two 50-yard field goals in a career … Kicked two of the five longest field goals in school history … For the season, led the Lions in scoring with 49 points and converted 9-14 field goals and 22-24 point after attempts … Also registered 24 touchbacks in 41 kickoffs as the Lions’ kickoff specialist … Ranked among league statistical leaders in several categories: No. 6 in kick scoring (4.9 ppg.), No. 2 in field goals (nine) and No. 7 in PAT kicking percentage (91.7) … Registered field goals in nine of 10 games for Columbia … Kicked 35-yard field goal, went 3-3 on point after attempts and registered five touchbacks on six kickoffs vs. Brown (Nov. 16) … Converted 26-yard field goal, 2-2 on point after attempts and registered three touchbacks on three kickoffs vs. Harvard (Nov. 9) … Converted 5-6 point after attempts, kicked a 43-yard field goal, scored a season-high eight points and registered six touchbacks on seven kickoffs vs. Penn (Oct. 19) … Earned Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts … Kicked a 51-yard field goal, which tied for the second-longest field goal in school history and was 3-3 on kickoff touchbacks at Princeton (Oct. 5) … In first collegiate game, kicked a 50-yard field goal, the fourth-longest field goal in school history and was 4-4 on point after attempts in season opener at Saint Francis, Pa. (Sept. 16) … Named Ivy League Rookie of the Week following his efforts.
HIGH SCHOOL
A 2019 graduate of Holland Hall High School in Tulsa, Okla., where he earned four varsity letters for Head Coach Tag Gross … Named to the 2018 MaxPreps Small School First Team All-American Team … Selected to kick in the 2019 All-American Bowl, played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on Jan. 5 on NBC … Two-time Oklahoma Coaches Association Class 2A All-State selection (First Team in 2018 and Honorable Mention in 2017) … Named to the Class of 2019 Football University Top Gun Team … Named First Team All-State by the Tulsa World … Two-time Tulsa World All-Area Team selection … Three-time District Special Teams Player of the Year award winner … Selected to play in the Oklahoma Coaches Association All-State Game for the East Team … Served as the Dutchmen placekicker and punter and handled all kickoffs … Named a top-10 area placekicker and punter by the Tulsa World … Led the Dutchmen to three straight district championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018 … Concluded his career with 25 field goals with a long of 57 yards … Led the state with 15 field goals on 18 attempts with a long of 41 yards, averaged 38.9 yards on 30 punts and 42 of his 70 kickoffs went for touchbacks as a senior … Kicked three field goals, along with a 36-yard field goal in the closing seconds to give his team a 15-14 win over Vian in the district championship game … Led the Dutchmen to the 2018 district title … Named to the Oklahoma Associated Press Class 2A Preseason All-State Team prior to his senior year … Also averaged 40 yards on five punts and three of his four kickoffs went for touchbacks vs. Vian … Kicked two field goals as a junior in 2017 … Kicked seven field goals as a sophomore in 2016 … Kicked the game-winning extra point with 42 seconds to play against Vian … Kicked a 40-yard field goal and 15 extra points as a freshman in 2015 … Ranked the nation’s No. 2 kicker among the Class of 2019 prospects by Chris Sailer … Ranked the nation’s No. 6 prospect by Kohl’s Professional Camps … Also lettered in soccer for three years … Four-year Honor Roll student.
PERSONAL
Born Alexander Kent Felkins on May 8, 2001 in Tulsa, Okla. … Son of Kent and Inna Felkins … Mother is the Holland Hall volleyball coach, who played pro volleyball for six years in the Soviet Union, Ukraine and two years in Yugoslavia in the 1980s and 1990s … Sister Anna Bezhan was an all-conference volleyball player who competed for and attended Stetson University (2015-19) … Mother is from the Soviet Union and sister was born in the Ukraine … Learned from placekicker Drew Klinghagen, who kicked for the University of Tulsa football team … Role model is Austin Seibert, who has coached him since his freshman year in high school … Played soccer before beginning to play football midway through the eighth grade … Kicked his first football in the eighth grade … Took him three months to convince his mother to let him play football … Trilingual as he speaks Russian, Ukrainian and English … Hobbies and interests include watching movies and listening to music … Favorite home-cooked meal is Ukrainian Pelmeni … Has hit a 65-yard field goal in practice … Selected Columbia because of the opportunity to experience a top-5 university in the most diverse city in the world, its elite education with unmatched connections … Selected Columbia over Cornell, Princeton and preferred walk-on offers from Air Force and Boston College … Also was recruited by Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Purdue, Texas Tech, Washington State, Rice and Stanford … Enrolled at Columbia College … Majors in Psychology.
