Atlantic City graduate Claudine Smith placed third in the triple jump Friday at the Big Ten Championships.
Smith, a Rutgers sophomore, leaped a season-best 40-11 1/2 on her second attempt, finishing behind only Nebraska senior Ieve Turke (41-10 3/4) and Iowa grad student Eavion Richardson (41-3 1/4). Turke is from Latvia and Richardson from Great Britain.
Smith also had jumps of 40-5 and 40-3 1/4 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
Smith’s college PR is 41-7 from a meet last winter at Vanderbilt. She hasn’t had a chance to compete outdoors yet as a collegian.
Smith also ran 8.79 in the hurdles trials but didn’t advance to the final.
At Atlantic City, Smith went 40-1 1/2 indoors and 42-2 outdoors when she won the 2019 Meet of Champions. She was 6th last year at the Big Ten Championships with a 39-11 1/4 jump.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 