UConn freshman Jaidah Garrett from Absegami is the top freshman long jumper in the big East after an indoor PR 19-5 ½ in a meet at Harvard’s Gordon Track and Tennis Center in Cambridge, Mass.
Garrett, from Galloway Township, had an indoor PR of 18-10 ½ in high school from her win at the state Group 3 meet at the Bubble this past May. Her lifetime best is 19-7 ¾ with legal wind when she placed 6th at West Philly Nationals in June.
Garrett is 5th overall in the Big East. UConn has six of the top 10 jumpers in the conference, including four freshmen. She’s also 8th overall in the NCAA Division 1 Northeast Regional and No. 1 freshman also in the region.
Only 10 South Jersey women have reached 20 feet in the long jump, so Garrett is 4 ¼ inches from that plateau. Of that group, two are from Atlantic County. Shameka Marshall from Hamilton Township and Oakcrest jumped 22-1 in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2010 and Asia Young from Pleasantville Holy Spirit went 20-6 in Tucson in 2019.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 