Highland’s Floyd Whitaker, the NCAA runner-up last year for Oklahoma, placed 4th in the triple jump Saturday at the U.S. Championships at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York.
Whitaker, ranked 7th among Americans with his PR 53-11 ¼ from College Station, Texas, in February, jumped 51-7 into a 2.2 meters-per-second headwind on his final jump.
Going into the final round, Whitaker was in 4th with a 50-11 on his 3rd attempt, but former Florida State All-America Kyvon Tatham bumped him into 5th with a 51-5 ½ on his final jump. Whitaker responded with his 51-7 to
Whitaker, at 23 the youngest competitor in the top four, missed a podium finish by just 17 inches. He placed 13th last year in Eugene in his first U.S. championship meet.
He’s the first Highland athlete to place in the top eight at U.S. Nationals and the first male triple jumper with a top-eight finish.
Whitaker fouled on his 1st attempt, then had legal jumps of 49-11 ¼, 50-11 and 49-11 before a foul on his 5thjump.
Whitaker’s college teammate, former NCAA champion Brandon Green, placed 6th with a 50-10 ¼. Green had won all 21 previous head-to-head competitions vs. Whitaker.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 