Smith Defends Home Turf With Final Jump Of 22-7; Axelina Johannson Dominates Shot Put; Julie Fixen Comes Through In Pole Vault
By David Woods for DyeStat
AUSTIN, Texas – Next time we see these three together on the same long jump runway, it will have to be at an Olympics or World Championships.
And we might be seeing Ackelia Smith, 21; Alyssa Jones, 19, and Jasmine Moore, 22, jumping for medals for a decade.
Smith, already a world leader, needed a last attempt of 22 feet, 7 inches (6.88 meters) to take the title late Thursday night in the NCAA Division 1 Championships at her home Mike A. Myers Stadium.
“I was like, ‘This is my track. I’m not going to lose on it,’ “ she said.
She overtook Jones, a Stanford freshman from Miami who set an American U20 record of 22-6.25 (6.86m) in the fourth round.
In third place at 21-10.25 (6.66m) was Moore, a native Texan concluding her Florida college career. She has the triple jump Saturday, but she won’t end a perfect 8-for-8 for the Gators over two years. She has twice swept long and triple jumps at indoor NCAAs and came here as defending outdoor champion in both.
Jones set a U20 American record of 22-1.50 (6.74m) in finishing fourth in indoor NCAAs at Albuquerque, N.M. She acknowledged another junior record was a goal.
“I’m only going to be 19 for this year. So I wanted to try to get that,” she said.
She did a bit of everything in high school – four individual titles at her Florida state meet last year – so might not confine herself to the long jump. She has been a 6-foot high jumper and last year clocked 23.49 in the 200 meters. Jones said the heptathlon is not out of the question.
“I like doing stuff. It would be fun to go out there and do a bunch of things,” Jones said.
Jones broke the record of 22-5 (6.83m) set by Maine high schooler Kate Hall in 2015, climbing to No. 8 on the all-time World U20 list.
Smith, a Jamaican, Moore and Jones rank 1-6-7 in the world this year. Smith jumped 23-2.75 (7.08m) in the Big 12 meet to rank No. 2 in collegiate history behind another Longhorn, Tara Davis-Woodhall, 23-5.25 (7.14m) in 2021.
Even before her last attempt, Smith endured pressure. After two long fouls, she needed a fair mark on her third attempt, and managed 20-10 (6.35m).
Her victory was part of a momentous night for the Longhorns, who set collegiate records in the women’s 4×100 relay (41.55) and decathlon (8,836 points by Leo Neugebauer).
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