Down to her last triple jump and without a legal mark, all Mariah Stephens did with her final chance to qualify for the finals was shatter the Rider school record on her way to her 3rd win of the weekend Sunday at the MAAC Championships at the Armory.
Stephens, who had already won the long jump on Saturday and 60-meter hurdles on Sunday and placed 2nd in the 60-meter dash, fouled on her first two attempts in the triple jump and went into her 3rd attempt needing to get a legal mark just to have a chance to advance to the finals.
But not only did she get a legal mark, she set an indoor PR of 39-8 ¾, broke a 7-year-old school record and moved into the lead on her way to her 3rd win of the weekend.
That jump smashed her indoor best of 39-4 ½ from a meet at the Armory in December and was only 1 ¼ inches off her overall PR of 39-10 from an outdoor meet last April in Lawrenceville.
It broke the school record of 38-11 ¾ set by Destiny Kearney from Toms River South at the 2017 MAAC Championships at the Armory.
Earlier Sunday, Stephens won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.64 and placed 2nd in the 60-meter dash 12 minutes later in 7.62 [2-100ths of a second out of 1st], matching a PR that she set in Saturday’s trials. On Saturday, she won the long jump with a lifetime-best 19-1 ¼.
Stephens is now a 10-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion – five triple jumps, two long jumps, two hurdles and a 4-by-100 – and she’s won 22 total medals in MAAC competition with two years of outdoor and one year of indoor eligibility remaining.
Stephens won the triple jump by seven inches over freshman Madelyn Valpy of Mt. St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md. Valpy hit 39-1 ¾ on her 3rd jump and was the only other competitor over 38 feet. Valpy also had a 39-1 on her 5th jump. But when she fouled on her final attempt, Stephens clinched her 5th conference triple jump title.
With the win in hand, Stephens soared 39-7 ¾ on her 6th jump – only an inch off her brand-new school record.
Stephens also had jumps of 38-6 ¼ and 38-9 ¾ to open the finals. On her four legal jumps, she averaged 39-2 – better than Valpy’s best jump.
On the all-time Rider indoor list, Stephens is No. 2 in the 60, No. 2 in the hurdles, No. 2 in the long jump and No. 1 in the triple jump. Outdoors, she’s 5th in the 100, 4th in the 100 hurdles, 5th in the long jump, 2nd in the triple jump and is part of the school-record 4-by-1.
Mariah Stephens conference titles
2022 indoor [4 medals]
Long Jump [18-5 ¾]
Triple Jump [38-5 ½]
2022 outdoors [5 medals]
Triple Jump [39-5 ¼]
400-Meter Relay [47.26]
2023 indoors [4 medals]
60-Meter Hurdles [8.59]
Triple Jump [38-4 ¼]
2023 outdoors [5 medals]
Triple Jump [39-0 ½]
2024 indoors [4 medals]
Long Jump [19-1 ¼]
60-Meter Hurdles [8.64]
Triple Jump [39-8 ¾]
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 