IT WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN a complete surprise if a USC Trojan prevailed in the long jump. After all, two had qualified from the West Region. USATF indoor champion Johnny Brackins had earlier qualified for the 110H final running a PR 13.37 and came into the competition as one of the favorites. JC Stevenson had posted a very windy jump (27-5½/8.37) in early April, but his results as of late were unremarkable. In fact, he only qualified 8th out of the West Region and rated No. 6 on the T&FN formchart.
Others in the field included Arkansas’s indoor champ Wayne Pinnock, favored though his outdoor season has been affected by a niggly hamstring, the Indoor runner-up Jeremiah Davis from Florida State and Florida’s Malcolm Clemons.
Davis took the lead in round 1 with 26-5½ (8.06), while Brackins came close with 26-4¼ (8.03).
Davis would improve to 26-5¾ (8.07) in round 2, while Clemons slid past Brackins into 2nd with a 26-5 (8.05) leap and Pinnock into 4th jumping 26-2¼ (7.98) in round 3.
The final 9 included Minnesota frosh Charles Godfred (25-11/7.90), South Florida’s Goodness Iredia (25-9½/7.86), Stevenson (25-7¼/7.80) and Oklahoma’s duo, Anthony Riley (25-¾/7.64) and Nikaoli Williams (25-0/7.62).
No one improved in rounds 4 or 5, but 6 began with an improvement from Williams, whose wind-aided 25-5½ (7.76) took him from 9th to 8th ahead of teammate Riley.
Although Stevenson had very quiet series that included a foul in round 1 and three marginal improvements in 2, 3, & 4 followed by a foul in 5 he was still in 7th.
As the Trojan soph charged down the runway, there seemed to be a bit more energy in his approach. He hit the board spot-on and stretched to a wind-legal 26-11¾ (8.22) to take a 6 inch lead.
The six remaining jumpers would not improve, leaving Stevenson the victor. Stevenson became the first long jump champion for USC since Larry Doubley triumphed in ’77.
Stevenson said, “I was kinda nervous, but you know my coach has been saying nerves is a good thing, because that just means I care a lot. So all I was thinking about was just get on the board, get on the board, get on the board and I’ll be fine.”
MEN’S LONG JUMP RESULTS
(June 05; winds ranged from +2.8 to –1.7)
1. **JC Stevenson (USC) 26-11¾ (8.22) PR
(f, 25-2, 25-7¼, 25-9¼w, f, 26-11¾) (f, 7.67, 7.80, 7.85w, f, 8.22);
2. Jeremiah Davis (FlSt) 26-5¾ (8.07)
(26-5½, 26-5¾, f, 26-¾, 25-10¼, 26-¼) (8.06, 8.07, f, 7.94, 7.88, 7.93);
3. *Malcolm Clemons (Fl) 26-5 (8.05)
(24-5, 25-10, 26-5, 25-7¼, 26-¾w, f) (7.44, 7.87, 8.05, 7.80, 7.94w, f);
4. *Johnny Brackins (USC) 26-4¼ (8.03)
(26-4¼, 26-1, 25-8, 18-9¼, 24-9, 24-11¼) (8.03, 7.95, 7.82, 5.72, 7.54, 7.60);
5. *Wayne Pinnock’ (Ar-Jam) 26-2¼ (7.98)
(25-2½w, 25-9½, 26-2¼, 26-1¾, f, 24-1½) (7.68w, 7.86, 7.98, 7.97, f, 7.35);
6. ***Charles Godfred’ (Mn-Ngr) 25-11 (7.90)
(25-6, f, 25-11, f, f, 24-4½) (7.77, f, 7.90, f, f, 7.43);
7. **Goodness Iredia’ (SFl-Ngr) 25-9½ (7.86)
(25-9½, f, f, 25-2, f, 25-7½) (7.86, f, f, 7.67, f, 7.81);
8. *Nikaoli Williams’ (Ok-Jam) 25-5½w (7.76)
(f, 25-0, 23-10¼, 24-11¾w, 24-8½, 25-5½w) (f, 7.62, 7.27, 7.61w, 7.53, 7.76w);
9. Anthony Riley (Ok) 25-¾ (7.64); 10. Ramsey Hunt (EnIl) 24-11¼ (7.60); 11. Sean Dixon-Bodie (Fl) 24-11¼ (7.60); 12. **Kenson Tate (Lam) 24-9¾ (7.56); 13. *Channing Ferguson (SC) 24-9¾ (7.56); 14. Gabriel Binion (UTSA) 24-9¼ (7.55); 15. Jake Burkey’ (Louis-GB) 24-8½ (7.53); 16. **Jordan Turner’ (FlSt-Jam) 24-8¼ (7.52); 17. James Brown (Gram) 24-5½ (7.45); 18. Ezra Mellinger (Duke) 24-4½ (7.43); 19. Prestin Artis (Wa) 24-1¾ (7.36); 20. **Sir Jonathan Sims (Az) 24-1¾ (7.36); 21. **Curtis Williams (FlSt) 24-¾ (7.33); 22. **Tayton Klein (Ks) 23-10¾ (7.28); 23. **Jake Wall (Mi) 23-3¼ (7.09);… dnc—A’Nan Bridgett (Rut).
