Homegrown Oregon Talent Produces Six Farthest Throws Of Competition; Ackelia Smith Hits Big Jump In The Nick Of Time; Elisabet Rut Runarsdottir Wins Hammer; Chloe Timberg Goes From No-Height To National Champion In Pole Vault

By Lori Shontz for DyeStat

Photos by Logan Hannigan-Downs and Kirby Lee/Image of Sport

EUGENE, Ore. – When she’s sitting on a bench in the infield between throws in a shot put competition, head in her hands, Oregon thrower Jaida Ross has a clear, detailed view.

She visualizes her next throw, every detail. She sees the tiny cameras at the front of the ring. The crowd. The scoreboard. Literally everything she’ll see when she steps into the ring.

And, yes, she also sees where the throw is going to land. “Over the 20 (meter) line,” she said, laughing. “Every time.”

That’s one of the ways she dealt with the attention she received heading into the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the shot put collegiate record holder, the only collegiate woman to throw farther than 20 meters, someone who hadn’t lost during the outdoor season and who was competing at her home track of Hayward Field in her home state of Oregon.

The other way she dealt with the pressure?

“I just kind of turned it into something positive, as much as I could,” she said. “The whole thing with people watching me? Then OK, watch this.”

Here’s what those people saw – Ross capped a stellar outdoor season Thursday night by winning the NCAA shot put title, throwing 64-2.50 (19.57m) on her sixth throw.

Ross is the first Oregon woman to win an NCAA shot put title. She also became the second NCAA champion from North Medford High School, joining a guy by the name of Dick Fosbury. “So this is a pretty cool thing to have my name on,” she said, clutching her trophy. “I’m super proud of this.”

Any of Ross’ six throws would have won the competition. Her series: 18.86m, 19.14m, 19.09m, 18.85m, 18.75m, then the winning throw. Her closest competition, Colorado State senior Gabby Morris, finished nearly a meter behind with a lifetime-best effort of 61-2.75 (18.66m).

Not that Ross was acting as if she were far ahead of the field. “My mindset the whole time was that I’m not winning,” she said. “Somebody’s going to pop a throw. I need to throw farther. Not once did I see myself winning.” She paused quickly, then clarified. “As far as my mindset.”

She didn’t watch her competitors throw; she doesn’t want to watch someone else’s technique and have that in her head.

For the past two years, Ross had finished fifth. Last season, she did so despite back injuries that changed her weightlifting routine. “It was really difficult,” she said. “I was really discouraged. I’d never really battled an injury before, so it was my first time practicing resilience.”

She also began focusing on her rehab routine and core exercises, and she came into this season healthy. The work she had done with Oregon throws coach Brian Blutreich, who had coached five previous NCAA women’s shot put winners, began to pay off.

She finished second in the NCAA indoors. She broke the collegiate record in her first meet of the outdoor season, throwing 64-8 (19.71m). She tied the mark three weeks later, as part of a series in which she broke the 19-meter mark four times, the first time a college woman had done so.

Then, at the West Regional meet, she threw 20.01m, breaking the collegiate record again and becoming just the seventh U.S. woman to break the 20-meter barrier.

“A big thing is that I’m healthy this year,” Ross said. “So much stronger than last year. Quicker. My fitness is higher. Everything we work on just kind of came together this year. It’ll keep coming.”

Ross planned to celebrate with ice cream from Prince Puckler’s, the iconic shop just a short walk from Hayward Field on Agate Street. “You gotta go lemon,” she said. “Anything with lemon on it.” She also likes chocolate, although obviously not with the lemon ice cream.

Then she’ll visit with her family, about 15 of whom made their way up from Medford and watched her victory. And then she’ll compete Saturday in the discus. “I might throw the discus with this in my hand, actually,” she said, laughing and looking at her trophy. “Super proud of this.”

In other field event finals Thursday:

Ackelia Smith of Texas needed all of her mental strength to win her second consecutive title in the long jump after she fouled on her first two attempts. With one more attempt to move on to the final, or be left behind, she told herself to just take a safe jump.

“And the safe jump ended up being my best jump, right,” she said, shrugging.

That third jump of 22-3.50 (6.79m) held up to make her the second female athlete to win back-to-back long jump titles, along with fellow Jamaican Elva Goulbourne, who won two for Auburn in 2002 and 2003.

“As much as I want to (think) I’m the greatest physically, I know the girls out there, they do the same training as me, maybe even more,” said Smith, a junior. “At the end of the day, it’s who can hold it together mentally.”

Florida senior Claire Bryant of Florida finished second at 6.74m, and Stanford sophomore Alyssa Jones finished third at 6.64.

For Bryant, it was her eighth podium finish in eight NCAA appearances in the long jump, indoors and out, making her the only American collegiate female competitor to achieve the feat in Division 1 history and the fourth athlete overall. 

Texas State sophomore Elisabet Rut Runarsdottir became the fourth Icelandic woman to win an NCAA title, capturing the hammer throw on her third attempt of 231-2 (70.47m), the best throw in college competition and a personal record. The NCAA title is the first for Texas State since 1995, when Inez Turner won the second of her two 800-meter titles.

Tara Simpson-Sullivan of Rice threw a personal best mark of 229-5 (69.94m) for second place and Jalani Davis from Ole Miss threw a personal-best 229-2 (69.86m) for third. 

Rutgers junior pole vaulter Chloe Timberg broke a meet record and jumped a personal best 15-5.50 (4.71m), becoming the first female Rutgers athlete to win an NCAA title in any event. It was a huge turnaround from a year ago, when Timberg no-heighted.

"To see that coming together in practices and then have it translate to a competition setting, it feels great and it reminds you why you are in the sport and why you put in all that time," Timberg said. 

Riley Felts of Charlotte matched her personal best with 14-11 (4.55m) for second place and then Washington trio Hana Moll, Nastassja Campbell and Amanda Moll finished third, fourth and tied for fifth at 14-9 (4.50m).