THE CELEBRATORY HUG between Auburn sophomore Ja’Kobe Tharp and his mother lasted considerably longer than his 110H race.
Tharp posted a PR of 13.05, slicing 0.09 off his previous best, thanks to his best start of the ’25 season. After thrusting his right fist into the air at the finish line, he ran straight into the arms of Aminda Tharp at the edge of the track where they spent 22 seconds embracing.
“She’s my heartbeat,” said Tharp, who also won the ’25 NCAA indoor 60H title. “She told me to relax and trust my coach and that’s what I did.”
With almost no wind (0.1), Tharp became the collegiate leader while moving to No. 3 on the ’25 world list and No. 5 on the all-time collegiate list.
“I knew I had it in my legs for a while,” he said.
Last year in his NCAA debut, Tharp lost by 0.01 to Nebraska senior Darius Luff, 13.19 to 13.20. Had Tharp won the race, scoring an additional 2 points, Auburn would have claimed the NCAA team title.
In the offseason, the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native and Tigers assistant Ken Harnden worked on his start, reducing his steps before the first hurdle from eight to seven.
In the SEC meet, Tharp lost to Kendrick Smallwood of Texas, who came into Eugene as the co-collegiate leader with Jamar Marshall of Houston at 13.13.
In the first semi, another favorite, senior Ja’Qualon Scott of Texas A&M, was disqualified for a false start, the second in the race after Florida’s Demaris Waters jumped the gun. Baylor frosh Demario Prince went on to win in 13.27.
Tharp cruised to 13.15 in the second semi, shutting it down once he knew he had the lead, and Smallwood ran 13.26 to win the third.
In the final, Tharp got out well in lane 5, but Arizona junior Zach Extine in lane 3 caught up and stayed with him from the third hurdle until the ninth.
“I tried to hold on through the end of the race, but once again, I got a little sloppy,” Tharp said. “But it feels good that I was able to get that done. I still have more room to grow.”
Using his height and strength, the USATF U20 gold medalist on this same track — who is still only 19 — pulled away in the final stretch. Extine posted a PR of 13.15, followed by Houston teammates John Adesola (13.28) and Marshall (13.34).
While Tharp credited “better execution” since the SEC meet for his performance,…
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