Romaine Beckford, the reigning NCAA Indoor and Outdoor high jump champion from Arkansas, elevated his indoor career record to 7 feet, 5.25 inches (2.27) during the Razorback Invitational on Friday night.
Securing the victory, Beckford now stands at No. 4 on the UA all-time list and No. 3 on the Jamaican all-time indoor list with an equally impressive No. 4 performance.
Expressing the significance of this accomplishment, Beckford shared, “It’s very special knowing how hard we’ve been training. My body still feels heavy, and I wasn’t in great shape before the competition. I just competed. I think what I did better than usual was stay focused and warm. My approach is much better and dialed in where I know every step of it. I feel comfortable with my approach, and I don’t need to overthink it.”
As the winner, Beckford set his sights on the Olympic standard of 7-7.75 (2.33) for his next attempt, making three tries, with the final attempt coming closest to success.
“My dream is always to get the national record, just to put my name up there,” said Beckford, who would have broken the Arkansas school record of 7-7.25 (2.32) with a clearance at 7-7.75.
“Tonight, though, was just to let my coach decide the next height, and he went for the Olympic standard. While I had a great attempt at it, I’m going to move on from it. It’s going to take a lot, because that attempt was crazy, going from 2.27 to 2.33.”
In the competition, Beckford’s teammates Kason O’Riley and Tomas Ferrari finished seventh at 6-11.5 (2.12) and tenth at 6-9.5 (2.07), respectively.
The first day of the heptathlon sees a Razorback quartet currently in positions 2-3-4-5 with scores as follows – Jack Turner (3,304), Yariel Soto Torrado (3,189), Marcus Weaver (3,184), and Daniel Spejcher (3,096).
Mississippi State’s Peyton Bair leads the heptathlon with a score of 3,374 points.
Tevijon Williams achieved an indoor career best of 20.85, securing fifth place in the 200m, while Steven McElroy established a career best of 21.02, finishing eighth.
