Claudine Smith missed the Rutgers outdoor triple jump school record by just three inches Saturday.
Smith, an Atlantic City graduate, jumped 40-11 3/4 at the Rutgers B1G Tri-Meet in Piscataway, an outdoor collegiate best. The timing company did not provide series information or wind information.
Smith’s mark is No. 3 in Rutgers history outdoors, behind only school record holder Kahimah Liverman, who jumped 41-3, and Nwamaka Okobi, who jumped 41-0 1/4.
Her mark is No. 6 this year in the Big Ten Conference.
Her overall collegiate best is a 41-7 1/4 in a meet at Vanderbilt University in Nashville in January of 2000. That’s the best jump in Rutgers history either indoors or outdoors.
Smith’s lifetime best is a 42-2 at the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.
Also in the triple jump, Rancocas Valley graduate Kristina Tossas, a Rutgers freshman, jumped 36-5 for fifth place. She jumped 38-1 1/4 indoors in a meet at Penn State in January. Her high school best was a 37-2 1/2 at 2000 Easterns at the Armory.
Smith also ran 14.24 in the 100-meter hurdles, which is also a collegiate best in only her second outdoor hurdles race. No wind information was provided.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 