A LONG TIME COMING. That’s how Texas A&M’s Lamara Distin felt about her 6-6¾ (2.00) high jump to win her third SEC Indoor title. It’s a height she had previously tested at 5 competitions over the past two years, and she felt like it was overdue. “I’ve been chasing the bar for so long, and for it to finally happen, it just means so much just to do that, all my hard work and my dedication and just pushing myself to my limits.”
As she cleared the Collegiate Record — indoor and absolute — she says, there was “a mix of nerves and excitement running through me.”
She knew before she hit the mat that she was successful in her third attempt that day. “Clearing that bar, once I didn’t feel me hitting anything, I was like, I knew I was over. Normally I would be feeling something when I’m approaching, like, ‘Oh, this is wrong.’ But that particular jump, it was just perfect. When I was at the top of the bar, I knew.” When she came off the pit, she broke down in tears. That bar carried a lot of emotional weight.
Now in her senior year, Distin has been a force in collegiate high jumping since she came to College Station from Jamaica’s Hanover Parish in the midst of the pandemic’s first year. She has won the NCAA Indoor title twice, and captured the outdoor crown in ’22, with runner-up finishes in ’21 and ’23. Now, she is wrapping up her time in an Aggie jersey, and expects to compete in this summer’s Paris Olympics as a pro.
She’s come a long way from the day one of her first coaches suggested to the young runner that she try the high jump. She was more than a little leery. “Is that the one that you have to jump over the pool?” she asked, concerned that he was pointing her toward the steeplechase. “I was just young,” she explains with a laugh.
“So I started high jumping and triple jumping then. I was doing pretty good because at the age of 14, I jumped 1.71 [5-7¼]. So I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty amazing.’ You know, that’s where the talk started.”
Competing for Hydel High, where she was teammate to another Aggie, Charokee Young (the ’22 NCAA 400 runner-up), Distin won Carifta Games silver at 16, and the next year was runner-up in both the high jump and triple jump. In ’18 she won Carifta gold in the high jump by clearing a PR 6-¾ (1.85) and made the finals of the World U20 (Junior) Championships, where she finished 12th.
The ’19 season was her final prep campaign. She won the Jamaican HS championships in both her events, setting PRs of 6-1½ (1.87) and 43-10½ (13.37). She took the nation’s U20 high jump title, going the same height as the senior winner. Then she won silver at the Pan-Am Juniors.
Since Distin has been in College Station, she has managed to balance her NCAA obligations with a busy international schedule. As a frosh, after finishing 2nd in the NCAA with a PR 6-2¾ (1.90), she jumped the same height to win the Jamaican title, then she won gold at the NACAC meet in Costa Rica. In ’22, after winning the SEC and NCAA titles, she placed 9th in the World Championships and then won Commonwealth gold. She earned her first World Ranking at No. 9.
That year she hit a PR 6-5½ (1.97) and said farewell to the triple jump. “I decided to stop because with the high jump and the triple jump at practice, it was taking too much time. And I was having more success in the high jump, so that seemed a better plan for my future.”
Last season, in yet another January-through-August campaign, she won a pair of SEC crowns, the NCAA Indoor, was runner-up outdoors, then she took another Jamaican title, before tying for 5th in Budapest. Once again, she was Ranked No. 9 globally.
Compared to most of her collegiate rivals, and even to most NCAA champions ever, Distin has a wealth of experience competing in international championships. She says there’s a marked difference in the vibe between an NCAA final and an international one. “The crowd is different. There are more people there, there is more cheering. At the NCAA, there are not too many people and the vibe is just not there like at the Worlds. It’s totally different, so I just try to stay focused on doing what I need to do.”
Incidentally, Distin says competing at the World Indoors this season was discussed, but she and her coach, Mario Sategna, decided not to compete there. “Jamaica called and asked… I said no. We had talked about it before, and if it were after NCAAs, then I would definitely compete there. But the week before NCAAs, that’s a lot.”
Another thing that has marked Distin’s jumping is her remarkable consistency. In the past two years there have been zero no-heights, and it’s hard to identify a meet where she might have thought she did poorly. She says, “I always tell myself consistency is the key. As Coach always says, ‘It’s what you do on that day.’ So just showing up every day, I just try to be consistent. I try to show it each time, and just try to go even further because I know once I get that mark, I want to clear another bar. I’m gonna do what I have to do.”
When this year’s collegiate outdoor season wraps up, so will Distin’s time as an Aggie. But she sees herself staying in College Station and working with Sategna as she pursues her pro career. She’s not worried. “Honestly,” she says, “it’s not. I’m used to jumping with great athletes and so forth. I feel like it will be a very smooth transition for me, especially knowing that I will probably still be here training, it’s not like it’s a major change.”
She adds, “I know that when I’m consistent, I like trying to push myself to the limit. Each time I jump I want to go higher and higher, and I know that winning is going to come, you know? I want to jump high, but I also want to put myself in a great position to win.”
That intense focus shows up on her face before each jump. “I’m not mean,” she says with a laugh. “I know most people think I’m mean when they see my facial expression when I’m competing. But I’m just focused. I’m reserved.”
Her fans will have plenty of time to get used to her game face. She says she intends to keep jumping, “As long as I can, you know.”
