Romaine Beckford Of South Florida Wins Thrilling NCAA High Jump Competition
Romaine Beckford Of South Florida Wins Thrilling NCAA High Jump Competition
Romaine Beckford of South Florida edged Vernon Turner of Oklahoma for the title in a thrilling high jump duel at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
AUSTIN --- Romaine Beckford of South Florida edged Vernon Turner of Oklahoma for the title in a thrilling high jump duel at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
It was the second national title for Beckford, who also won the high jump at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Turner was competing in his first NCAA Outdoor Championships.
"It means a lot to (win) Indoor and Outdoor, and I'm just looking forward to bigger things," Beckford said. "It just sets up my future for later on."
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Romaine Beckford is the men's high jump national champion with a new program record leap of 2.27m (7-5.25)‼️‼️?#HornsUp? | #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/5mBGQVxXLS
After passing the opening height, both Beckford and Vernon carried clean cards into the fifth round. With the bar set at 2.24m/7-4.25, Beckford managed to clear on his second attempt while Vernon missed his first two. Down to his final jump, the Vernon managed to clear and stay alive, garnering a loud roar from the crowd.
"Yeah, I only had one miss, and I try to always keep everything clean and get it on the first attempt," Beckford said. "Versus him, I made a mistake earlier, and I was just trying to make sure I made up on it."
Both jumpers cleared the next bar, 2.27m/7-5.25 on their first attempts to extend the competition, securing Beckford a new personal-best in the process. But neither was able to get over 2.30m/7-6.5, giving Beckford the victory on countback.
Beckford cited the crowd as an inspiration during the heated moments of the competition.
"Since high school we always got a crowd, so I feed off the crowd," Beckford said. "I had a small team of about four or five, and I just looked for them in the crowd, and I just started going."
Third place went to Roberto Vilches of Missouri, who cleared 2.24m/7-4.25.
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