Lumberton’s Greg Foster missed the meet record by a q1uarter of an inch but settled for his second Ivy League long jump championship, a personal best and a school record.
Foster, a Princeton freshman, was sitting in 3rd place before he leaped 26-1 ¾ on his final attempt at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships at Franklin Field Saturday.
Foster’s best jump through five rounds was a 24-9 ¼ on his second attempt. He trailed Brown juniors Zachary Love and John McNeil, who had both jumped 24-10 ½. But on his final attempt – with a legal wind of 1.4 – he soared well beyond his lifetime best of 25-10 ¾ from an indoor meet in Annapolis in January. His outdoor PR was 25-6 ¼ from his final high school meet for Lawrenceville School – also at Franklin Field. His collegiate outdoor best before Saturday was a 24-9 ¼ in a meet last month in Charlottesville, Va.
Foster broke a 27-year-old school record of 26-0 ¼ set by Ugwunna Ikpeowo at the 1996 IC4As in Fairfax, Va. The meet record and overall Ivy League Heps record is 26-2 set by Yale’s Eugene Profit at 1985 Heps in Cambridge, Mass. Profit went on to play three seasons with the Patriots.
On the 2023 U.S. list, Foster now ranks No. 8, and he’s No. 3 junior (Under 20) in the world, behind Alejandro Parada of Cuba [26-8 ¾] and Asanda Mthembu of South Africa [26-6]. He’s also No. 29 on the all-time U.S. junior list.
Foster’s jump makes him the No. 9 New Jersey alumni all-time and No. 3 by a Burlington County native behind Carl Lewis [29-1] and Matt Rose [26-3 ½].
Indoors, Foster won the Ivy League long jump in Hanover, N.H., with a 25-9 1/2 jump.
29-1 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Aug. 30, 1991, Tokyo
27-2 ¼ … Corey Crawford [Indian Hills], May 29, 2021, Chula Vista, Calif.
26-9 ½ … Evans Tobler [Trenton], May 13, 1989, Ponce, Puerto Rico
26-5 ½ … Darius Pemberton [Hackensack], March 22, 1997, Houston
26-3 ½ … Matt Rose [Bordentown], May 4, 1991, Knoxville, Tenn.
26-2 ¾ … Eulace Peacock [Union], July 4, 1935, Lincoln, Neb.
26-1 ¾ … Chris Gillis [Pennsauken], May 12, 2006, Waco, Texas
26-1 ¾ … Norm Tate [East Orange], May 20, 1972, El Paso, Texas
26-1 ¾ … Greg Foster [Lawrenceville School/Lumberton], May 6, Philadelphia
26-1 ¼ … Mike Morrison [Willingboro], May 13, 2006, Fayetteville, Ark.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 