Donald Scott pulled off an upset victory with a final round PR of 57-0 (17.37), winning his first national outdoor title. His previous best, 56-7¼ (17.25) came in taking 3rd at last year’s meet. He previously won the ’17 Indoor… with a PR.
This win thumped a trio of recent World Rankers—Chris Benard, Chris Carter, Omar Craddock—as well as Christian Taylor, who was attempting what proved to be an impossible 400/TJ double. And with Will Claye having called an end to jumping in May, the door to a U.S. crown had been thrown wide open.
Craddock, jumping second in the second flight, took the lead on his first-round jump with a 54-5½ (16.60) effort. Taylor, jumping eighth, passed his first attempt, as he had just finished a 5th-place 400 semi barely more than 5:00 earlier. In round 2, Matthew O’Neal jumped 55-2¾ (16.83), but Benard topped that with 56-10 (17.32) to take the lead. Taylor, now 20 minutes removed from his 400m race, started down the runway but found himself not ready to jump and ran through the board.
Round 3 saw little notable action except for a cautious attempt by Scott, who landed at 54-9¼ (16.69) after having fouled his first two attempts. “I had some complications in the prelims,” he said later. “I had to take a safe jump on my third jump. I was running; I had to slow up because I thought I was going to foul, but I popped a qualifying mark and made it to the finals.”
Taylor, realizing the futility of his situation, passed his third jump and the field moved on to the final three rounds with Benard still leading. Scott was the only jumper to improve in round 4, leaping 56-6¾ (17.24) to move past Carter’s second-round 55-9 (16.99) into 2nd.
In round 5, Craddock improved to 54-7½ (16.65), but it placed him only 6th and would serve as his best of the day. Scott barely fouled on what appeared to be the best jump of the competition, and KeAndre Bates moved to 4th with a 55-7½ (16.95) leap. Benard fouled, but still led.
Scott, jumping fourth, popped his 57-0 winner just after the 100 had finished and the crowd was still buzzing in amazement at the closing speed of Noah Lyles. Scott then watched as Bates also improved with a PR 56-3¾ (17.16), short of Scott but enough to move to 3rd. Neither O’Neal nor Carter could improve, and when Benard fouled the title belonged to Scott.
Scott, a 26-year-old Eastern Michigan alum, said, “I know that I still have a lot left in me. I’m still a young jumper. I just had to be myself and find my rhythm.”
USATF MEN’S TRIPLE JUMP RESULTS
(June 22)
(winds ranged from +2.5 to 0.0)
1. Donald Scott (unat) 57-0 (17.37) PR
(f, f, 54-9¼, 56-6¾, f, 57-0) (f, f, 16.69, 17.24, f, 17.37);
2. Chris Benard (Nik) 56-10 (17.32)
(54-4½, 56-10, 55-10½, 55-2, f, f) (16.57, 17.32, 17.03, 16.81, f, f);
3. KeAndre Bates (Fl) 56-3¾ (17.16) PR
(53-5¾, f, 55-1½, f, 55-7½, 56-3¾) (16.30, f, 16.80, f, 16.95, 17.16);
4. Chris Carter (unat) 55-9 (16.99)
(f, 55-9, 54-8¾, 54-9½, 51-9¾, 54-7¼) (f, 16.99, 16.68, 16.70, 15.79, 16.64);
5. Matthew O’Neal (SFl) 55-2¾ (16.83)
(f, 55-2¾, 55-2, 54-8¾, 54-4½, 54-3¼) (f, 16.83, 16.81, 16.68, 16.57, 16.54);
6. Omar Craddock (unat) 54-7½ (16.65);
7. John Warren (SnMs) 54-7¼ (16.64) PR;
8. Alphonso Jordan (unat) 54-3¾ (16.55);
9. Scotty Newton (TCU) 53-3w (16.23);
10. Barden Adams (Ks) 52-5½ (15.99);
11. Josh Honeycutt (unat) 52-4 (15.95);
12. Tony Carodine (TPerf) 51-1½ (15.58);
13. Rex Parker (unat) 51-¾ (15.56);
14. Darrel Jones (Lib) 50-10¾ (15.51);
15. John Lemke (McN) 50-4¾ (15.36);
16. Elijah Calderon-Pitchford (Mank) 49-1 (14.96);
… 3f—Darius Armstead (SacSt);
… nm—Christian Taylor (Nik) (p, f, p). □
