Lumberton’s Greg Foster, a Princeton junior, placed 4th in the long jump Friday at the NCAA Division 1 Championships in Fayetteville. Three inches separated the top four finishers.
Foster popped the 3rd-biggest jump of his life on his 4th attempt, sailing 26-8 ¼ but came up a few inches short of becoming the first South Jersey long jumper to win a men’s NCAA title since Carl Lewis in 1981.
Lokesh Sathyanathan of Tarleton State won the competition at 26-11 ¼; Southern Mississippi’s De’Aundre Ward was 2nd at 26-11 and on his final attempt Tafadzwa Chikomba moved into 3rd with a 26-9.
Foster had three jumps of at least 26-5 in a monster series, with a 26-7 ¾, 26-5 ½ and the 26-8 ¼ in recording his best finish ever at NCAAs. He placed 7th with a 25-7 outdoors last year.
Foster matched the best finish ever by a Princeton long jumper at NCAAs. In the 1990 outdoor meet in Durham, N.C., Al Dyer placed 4th with a 25-10.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 