ALTITUDE-FRIENDLY ALBUQUERQUE saw 4 collegians — Jamaicans Carey McLeod & Wayne Pinnock of Arkansas, Cameron Crump of Mississippi State and Jeremiah Davis of Florida State — leap beyond 27 feet (8.23) in an unprecedented display of high-end depth at the NCAA Indoor.
Moving outdoors, Pinnock improved, establishing himself as the pre-Austin favorite, while the other three remained a class apart from all other entrants.
The first attempt is often the most important. So it was here, as McLeod, jumping second in the order, rode a 1.3 breeze to a 27-1¼ (8.26) mark. He later posted a 26-10½ (8.19) with an identical wind in round 3, and those would remain the longest jumps of the competition. A Tennessee transfer, he finished his NCAA career as the ’23 indoor and outdoor champion.
“It’s been a long, long, long time coming,” McLeod said. “I told my coach I’m not going to give him any more gray hairs. I planned to just come out here and just get it over with on the first jump. I said, ‘I’m not going to wait until late.’ I think I did a good job of that.”
Defending champ Pinnock, seemingly the quickest of all on the runway, exhorted the spectators for support on every attempt, but could come no closer than 26-9 (8.15). With six legal jumps, he usually hit the takeoff board well, but to no avail.
Behind the top 2, unheralded Kentucky frosh Jordan Turner — yet another Jamaican and not on our formchart — had a night to remember, first extending his PR by more than 3 inches to 26-4½ (8.04), then taking it further to 26-8¼ (8.13), which briefly tied Pinnock for 2nd.
The top U.S. jumper, Florida soph Malcolm Clemons, finally began to exhibit the huge potential he had displayed while winning the California State Meet in ’18 as a 10th-grader. In the fifth round, he bounded 26-4½ (8.04), a 5-inch (13cm) PR, while appearing to remain airborne longer than the other jumpers. On his last attempt, he kept improving, to 26-5¾ (8.07), good for 4th.
MEN’S LONG JUMP RESULTS
(winds ranged from +1.9 to –0.3)
1. Carey McLeod’ (Ar-Jam) 27-1¼ (8.26)
(27-1¼, 25-11½, 26-10½, 25-8, f, 18-5¼) (8.26, 7.91, 8.19, 7.82, f, 5.62);
2. **Wayne Pinnock’ (Ar-Jam) 26-9 (8.15)
(26-8¼, 26-9, 26-7, 23-6¼, 26-2¼, 26-2¾) (8.13, 8.15, 8.10, 7.17, 7.98, 7.99);
3. ***Jordan Turner’ (Ky-Jam) 26-8¼ (8.13) PR
(26-4½ PR,…
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