Stillman's Henderson wins NCAA DII Long Jump Title
PUEBLO, Colorado-- Stillman junior Jeffrey Henderson won the 2013 NCAA Division II Long Jump National Championship after propelling to a 7.81 meter ( 25 feet, 7 1/2 inches) mark on the first day of competiton at the Outdoor Track Championships held Thursday evening on the campus of University of Colorado State-Pueblo.
The SIAC Track Athlete of the Year and South Region Field Athlete of the Year lived up to his billing as he opened the competition with a leap of 7.63 meters (25 feet, 1/2 inch). After a foul on his second jump, he attacked the runway with even more focus. Less then ten seconds later, he had a jump of 7.81 meters (25 feet, 7 1/2 inches). Both jumps put him in first place after preliminary round.
During the finals, Henderson passed on his first two attempts before a jump of 7.68 meters (25 feet, 2 1/2 inches). Each jump Henderson made was the best jumps he registered this season, tying or bettering the mark he garnered at the Ole Miss Invitational in April.
"This is a great feeling," said Henderson as he waited for the award ceremony. "I and the coaches have worked hard this season and over the past few weeks getting me to this point. This is a good moment for the Tiger track program."
After winning the long jump, Henderson ran 10.20 seconds in the third heat of the 100-meter dash preliminaries. The second-fastest time of the day put him into Saturday's finals. He will also participate in the preliminaries of the 200-meter dash on Friday evening.