Texas’ Hooker High Jumped To NCAA Glory
No collegian had ever jumped higher than Destinee Hooker, yet she was still nervous entering the 2009 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Fayetteville, Arkansas.
It was Hooker’s first NCAA Outdoor meet in two years, having redshirted the 2008 season to concentrate on volleyball, another sport in which she had world-class skills.
Another reason for her nervousness was facing Liz Patterson of Arizona. Patterson was the reigning NCAA Outdoor champ who gave Hooker all she could handle earlier in the year when Hooker needed an indoor collegiate record of 1.98m (6-6) to break a tie for the NCAA crown.
Hooker’s 6-6 indoor clearance tied the best ever by a collegian on the combined indoor/outdoor all-time list, while Patterson’s 1.95m (6-4¾) made her tops indoors for a storied Arizona high jump program.
This time Hooker was in control, sailing over every height without a miss through 1.89m (6-2¼). Patterson, however, provided the competition Hooker anticipated, matching that height with an outdoor PR but sitting behind due to earlier misses.
Hooker, jumping before Patterson in the order, put the pressure on at 1.92m (6-3½) with a second-attempt clearance, while Patterson missed once and passed to the next height.
At 1.95m (6-4¾), Hooker was over on a first attempt to match her outdoor PR and achieve the second-best in meet history behind Amy Acuff’s 1.96m (6-5) in 1995. Patterson missed once and passed her final attempt to the next height.
For the first – and still only – time in meet history, two women attempted 1.98m (6-6). Patterson missed her lone remaining attempt, sealing victory for Hooker, who was unsuccessful in her three attempts at the record height. It was a third NCAA Outdoor title for Hooker, which matched Arizona’s Tanya Hughes, who won from 1991-93, for the most in event history.
Unfortunately, it was the final collegiate jump for Hooker, a junior who left high jumping for good after the 2009 season to pursue volleyball full-time. In 2012, she won Olympic silver in London on the U.S. team, earning acclaim as the Games’ best spiker.
Hooker completed the second set of sisters to win titles at the NCAA Outdoor meet, as older sis Marshavet won the 100 and anchored the Longhorns’ winning 4×100 relay team in 2005, the last time Texas won the women’s team crown. Marshavet was ahead of Destinee in reaching the Olympics, finishing fifth in the 200 final in 2008.
The NCAA and collegiate track & field will mark a momentous milestone in the spring of 2021 -- the 100th anniversary of the NCAA Championships and with that, the NCAA Track & Field Championships. In June 1921, the University of Chicago hosted the first track & field championships in NCAA history.
This point can’t be emphasized enough: Not only was the event the first for NCAA track & field, but the first championships for any sport under the sponsorship of the NCAA.
To celebrate, over each of the next 365 days, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) will celebrate moments, student-athletes, and coaches that have made a century’s worth of championships special. From humble beginnings to important historical milestones to the modern-day, collegiate track & field has evolved with the American society.
The 2021 edition of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships begin with preliminary round action on May 27-29 in Jacksonville, Fla., and College Station, Texas. The championships final site and culmination of the celebration is slated for June 9-12, 2021 at the newly rebuilt Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
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Tupuritis Shocked The Field In 1996
Einars Tupuritis won the 800 at the 1996 NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships by 0.14 seconds! Turpiritis crossed the finish line in 1:45.08.
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Paige Turned Three NCAA Mid-Distance Titles
Don Paige won three career titles at the NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships, including a 800-1500 sweep in 1979.