One jump and a win again for James

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming senior Mark Korir, far left, competes in the 5,000-meter run on Saturday at the Mountain West Conference Championships. Korir finished in fifth place. At bottom left is sophomore jumper Jeremiah James.

Saturday's results

By Rob Ketcham
Wyoming Sports.org

It was déjà vu all over again for Wyoming sophomore Jeremiah James.

Just like Friday’s winning performance in the long jump, all it took was one attempt for James to take home the championship in the men’s triple jump Saturday at the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex.

James reached a distance of 50-feet, 9 ¼ inches (15.27 meters) in his one and only jump, a personal record, which turned out to be one foot and four inches farther than Colorado State University’s Nnamdi Agwu’s second-place finish. The first- and second-place interval was identical to the one James achieved Friday on his way to the MWC long jump championship.

While he was happy with the event victory and the fact that his distance qualified him for regional competition in two weeks, James wasn’t entirely happy with his final distance.

“It was a good day,” he said. “I mean, I was trying to go for 15.80 meters, but that didn’t quite happen. I was just hoping to do a lot better and jump further at least, but hopefully in my next meet, I’ll make it to 15.80 and see if I can make it to nationals.”

On a more positive note, UW assistant coach Quincy Howe said: “He had a great performance today. I thought he executed quite well by sealing up the victory on his first jump.”

After racking up two MWC championships in two days, James said early Saturday afternoon that he was happy to be done competing for the weekend.

“It feels very good and a lot of pressure is relieved,” he said. “It’s just nice to done, relax and watch the rest of the meet to see how everything turns out.”

With the MWC meet over, James’ focus will now turn to regional competition in two weeks.

“If we can get him healthy in the next two weeks, he should be able to jump even better,” Howe said. “It’s going to be a big competition and all the best jumpers in our region will be there. He always rises to the occasion, so as long as he does that, he should be able to move on to nationals.”

Despite James' contributions to the Cowboys overall points, the Wyoming men finished the MWC championships in last place with 84 points. Brigham Young University took home the overall men’s championship with a whopping 214 points.

Other notable Cowboy performers Saturday were junior John Alderson, who finished fourth in the triple jump, sophomore Philemon Kimutai, who finished fourth in the 1,500-meter run, and senior Mark Korir, who took fifth in the 5,000-meter run.