As the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships prepare to kick off Wednesday at Eugene Oregon’s iconic Hayward Field, more than 30 Jamaican student-athletes have secured spots in individual event finals, bringing a mix of returning experience and historic firsts to this season-ending marquee collegiate competition.
A full dozen of this year’s Jamaican finalists already earned final stage berths at the 2023 championships, bringing valuable high-stakes experience to their teams. The group is headlined by two standout returning competitors: University of Oklahoma’s Ralford Mullings, the defending men’s discus champion, and University of Georgia’s Dejanae Oakley, who claimed a silver medal in the 2023 women’s 400-meter. Both athletes are poised to chase new honors for their universities as the U.S. college track season wraps up.
Two Jamaican athletes have qualified for two individual finals this year. Clemson University’s Shanate Foreman, the top-ranked competitor in women’s triple jump, also earned a spot in the women’s long jump. Meanwhile, University of Florida sprinter Gabrielle Matthews will contend for titles in both the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter events.
One of the most notable milestones for the Jamaican contingent this year is a historic first: for the first time since the championships’ inception, Jamaican athletes have qualified for the men’s javelin throw final. Additionally, the group fields an unusually strong six athletes in the men’s discus throw, making it the most heavily represented event for Jamaican competitors this year.
The competition schedule splits men’s and women’s events across the four-day meet: men’s action will take place on Wednesday and Friday, while women’s events are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday. All track events from 100 meters through 1500 meters will feature two rounds of competition, while all field events, 3000-meter steeplechase, and the 5000-meter and 10000-meter distance events will run as direct finals with no preliminary rounds.
History will be made on opening day itself, when University of Louisiana’s Jermar Ferguson and Mount St. Mary’s University’s Brandon Falconer line up for the men’s javelin throw, marking the first-ever appearance of Jamaican athletes in that discipline at the championships. Also competing on Wednesday will be Louisiana State University’s Jordan Turner, who will contest the men’s long jump.
Local favorite Kobe Lawrence of the host University of Oregon will aim to improve on his fourth-place finish in last year’s men’s shot put, where he will be joined by first-time national championship qualifier Shaiquan Dunn of the University of Texas.
The University of Arkansas will send a strong duo to the men’s 800-meter: returning finalists Rivaldo Marshall and Tyrice Taylor, both of whom are considered legitimate contenders for the national title. Marshall, the 2024 NCAA Indoor Nationals champion, took third place in this event last year, while Taylor finished eighth.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, Baylor University’s Demario Prince, who finished fifth in 2023, will aim to climb the podium and secure a spot in this year’s final, alongside fellow Jamaican Jerome Campbell of the University of Arkansas. Rounding out the men’s Jamaican competitors, Kimar Farquharson of Texas A&M University—formerly an 800-meter specialist—is the only Jamaican qualifier in the men’s 400-meter this year.