Greg Foster popped a season-best 26-0 ¼ with a legal wind Sunday at the Elliott Denman New Jersey International Meet in West Long Branch.
That’s just 1 1/2 inches off his PR, his 2nd-best wind-legal jump ever and best since he went 26-1 ¾ at Heps at Franklin Field in 2023.
Foster, a Lumberton native who attended Lawrenceville Prep and is a rising senior at Princeton, also had a 25-5 ¾ in his series.
His previous best jump this year was a 25-8 ½ at the Sam Howell Invitational in Princeton in April. He placed 7th at NCAA’s earlier this month in Eugene with a 25-8 ½, earning 1st-team All-America honors.
With the legal 26-footer, Foster moves up from 30th to 20th on the 2025 U.S. list, although his mark from Sunday hasn’t been added to the World Athletics database yet. He’s got a pretty strong B standard for U.S. Nationals – that’s 25-7 – and would automatically qualify with a wind-legal 26-6 ¾. The top 16 entries are accepted and if there aren’t 16 with the A standard the field is filled starting from the top of the B standard list. Marks made up through July 20 are accepted.
With his 13.78 win at Heps in New Haven in May, Foster is also very close to the B standard of 13.75 in the 110-meter hurdles. The A standard is 13.40. The top 32 hurdlers are accepted.
The Elliott Denman International traces its roots back to the Bob Roggy Invitational, which began in 1986 at Holmdel High School.
Greg Foster best legal jumps
26-1 ¾, Philadelphia, May 7, 2023
26-0 ¼, West Long Branch, June 22, 2025
25-10 ¾i, Annapolis, Jan. 21, 2023
25-9 ½i, Hanover, N.H., Feb. 26, 2023
25-8 ½, Princeton, April 4, 2025
25-8 ¼i, Annapolis, Md., Jan. 11, 2025
25-7 ¼i, Fayetteville, Feb. 15, 2025
25-7 ¼, Eugene, June 11, 2025
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 