Rowan’s David Brown, an NCAA Division 3 national champion this past year as a freshman, advanced to the final in the high jump Thursday at the World Under-20 Championships.
Click to access AT-HJ-M-q—-.RS6.pdf
Brown, competing for Jamaica, cleared 7-0 ¼ on his 2nd attempt and advanced as one of the top 12 finishers in the qualifying round.
The top 12 plus anyone else who cleared 7-3 advanced to the final. Five jumpers in Group A and seven in Brown’s Group B cleared 7-0 ¼ or better to make up the top 12.
The final is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. on Saturday.
Brown, from Edison High School in Middlesex County, cleared the first two heights – 6-6 ¾ and 6-8 ½ – on his 1st attempt before getting over the bar at 6-10 ½ on his 3rd and final attempt and finishing by clearing 7-0 ¼ on his 2nd try. Since he clinched a top-12 finish there was no need to continue jumping.
Brown is ranked 16th in the world in Under-20 with his season-best and PR 7-2 ¼ from the Ott Center in West Philly this past February. That’s 7th-best in NCAA Division 3 history indoors and a D-3 indoor freshman record. It’s 13th-best on the combined D-3 indoor and outdoor list.
Brown, 19, was 3rd in the high jump at the NCAA Division 3 indoor meet with a 6-10 ¼ in Birmingham in February and won outdoors at 7-0 ½ in La Crosse, Wisc. In June, he won the Jamaican national Under-20 title in Kingston with a 6-8 ¾.
The Under 20 Championships are open to athletes who don’t turn 20 by midnight Dec. 31. Brown turned 19 on May 24.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 