The final day of the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Eugene, Oregon’s iconic Hayward Field delivered a historic showcase for Jamaican collegiate athletes, as three competitors stormed to national titles in stunning fashion on Saturday.
Leading the historic charge was University of Georgia’s Dejanae Oakley, the pre-race favorite for the women’s 400-meter who delivered a record-smashing performance that cemented her status as the world’s top athlete in the event this season. In a thrilling back-and-forth race, University of Southern California’s Madison Whyte held the lead out of the final curve and maintained her edge through the final 60 meters, before Oakley shifted into a higher gear, powered past her rival, and crossed the finish line in 48.80 seconds. The time not only shaved 0.12 seconds off Oakley’s previous personal best of 48.92 seconds, but also broke the all-time collegiate and championship record of 48.89 seconds set just last year by another Jamaican star, Nickisha Pryce. It also extends Oakley’s position at the top of the global world rankings for the event in 2025.
In one of the biggest upsets of the entire championships, Florida State University’s Shenese Walker outperformed the heavily favored Adejah Hodge of the University of Georgia to take gold in the women’s 100-meter. Hodge had entered the final as the overwhelming favorite after running a world-leading and new NCAA record of 10.63 seconds in Thursday’s semi-finals, but Walker got out to a blistering fast start out of the blocks and held off the entire competitive field to cross the line in 10.88 seconds with zero wind assistance. Hodge finished just behind Walker to take silver in 10.93 seconds. University of Florida’s Gabrielle Matthews notched top-eight finishes in both short sprint events, placing sixth in the 100-meter in 11.12 seconds and fourth in the 200-meter in 22.29 seconds.
Clemson University’s Shantae Foreman, who already earned a silver medal in the long jump earlier in the meet, capped off her championships with a dramatic, personal best performance to win the women’s triple jump. Entering the competition as the top-ranked triple jumper in the NCAA all season, Foreman grabbed the lead in the second round with a wind-aided mark of 14.14m, which sat just one centimeter ahead of home crowd favorite Sharifa Davronova of the University of Oregon. Davronova then pushed Foreman to the brink on her final attempt, jumping a wind-aided 14.15m to take over the top spot in the penultimate jump of the entire competition. Foreman responded in clutch fashion on her final attempt, delivering a massive 14.25m leap that not only secured her the national title, but also set a new personal best and a new Clemson University school record. The jump also moves Foreman to sixth place on the all-time list of Jamaican triple jumpers, surpassing former top competitor Kimberly Williamson. The result marks a major improvement from 2024, when Foreman finished second in the event. Texas A&M’s Machaeda Linton finished 12th overall in the triple jump with a mark of 13.24m.
Several other Jamaican athletes also delivered strong top-16 finishes across the final day’s events. Ohio State University’s Janela Spencer narrowly missed a podium finish? No, Spencer claimed third place in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, clocking 12.79 seconds to edge out Texas Tech’s Tonie-Ann Forbes, who finished fourth just one hundredth of a second behind in 12.80 seconds. In the women’s discus throw, Texas A&M’s Abigail Martin placed eighth with a throw of 56.15m, while West Virginia University’s Annishka McDonald tied for 13th in the women’s high jump with a clearance of 1.79m.