The 2024 NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships kicked off Wednesday at Eugene Oregon’s iconic Hayward Field, bringing a mix of repeat results, personal bests, and ground-breaking performances from Jamaican collegiate athletes competing across multiple disciplines.
In the opening men’s shot put competition, University of Oregon’s Kobe Lawrence delivered a near-identical outcome to his 2023 campaign, securing fourth place for the second consecutive year. The Jamaican athlete landed a season-best throw of 19.87 meters, matching the position he took at last year’s championship. Lawrence’s Oregon teammate Ben Smith stole the show in the event, claiming the national title with a personal best 21.04-meter throw – the longest mark posted by any collegiate thrower this season. Another Jamaican competitor, Shaiquan Dunn of the University of Texas, finished 18th overall with a 17.99-meter effort.
Across other field events, Jordan Turner of Louisiana State University posted a 7.64-meter jump with a 0.9m/s wind assistance to take 12th place in the men’s long jump. In the javelin competition, Brandon Falconer of Mt St Mary’s College hit a new personal best of 69.33 meters, while Jermar Ferguson of the University of Louisiana recorded a 61.51-meter throw.
The most notable highlight of the opening day came from the semi-final rounds of running events, where three Jamaican athletes punched their tickets to Friday’s finals, including a historic semi-final performance from an Auburn University star. In the 110m hurdles, JaKobe Tharpe of Auburn shattered the 12-year-old world record held by Aries Merritt, clocking a stunning 12.75 seconds to win his semi-final heat. Tharpe’s mark erased Merritt’s 12.80-second record set at the 2012 London Olympics, and improved on his own previous personal best of 13.01 seconds – a mark that ranked 32nd all-time before Wednesday’s breakthrough. Demario Prince, Baylor University’s Jamaican hurdler, matched his 2023 finish position in the semis, taking second in his heat with a 13.15-second run to qualify for the final as the third-fastest overall competitor.
In the men’s 800m, Jamaican duo Rivaldo Marshall and Tyrice Taylor of the University of Arkansas both booked their spots in Friday’s final in impressive fashion. Marshall delivered the fastest qualifying time in NCAA championship history, crossing the finish line in 1:45.05 to top the overall leaderboard. Taylor secured his own final berth by winning his semi-final heat with a time of 1:46.98, a solid performance that was enough to advance. The only Jamaican disappointment on opening day came in the 400m, where Kemar Farquharson of Texas A&M University missed out on a final spot by just one position, finishing 11th overall with a 45.62-second run.