Georgia’s Orji Jump-Starts Record-Breaking Career

Celebrating A Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships

Georgia’s Orji Jump-Starts Record-Breaking Career

May 28, 2016

On this day in 2016, Keturah Orji of Georgia set her first collegiate record in the triple jump of 14.29m (46-10¾) at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Florida.

Orji, then a sophomore, would eventually win her second of four consecutive NCAA outdoor triple jump titles to become one of just five women with four titles in the same outdoor event in NCAA DI history. She added three more indoors plus an outdoor long jump crown in 2018 for a total of eight – the most combined in the two meets by a female field eventer in NCAA DI history and equal to the most by any female athlete, period.

The Mount Olive, New Jersey, native dominated the triple jump during her legendary career. In 28 collegiate competitions, she won 27. Her bests indoors and outdoors are each more than 10 inches ahead of history’s next best. The 2016 NCAA outdoor win at 14.53m (47-8) – when she won by nearly 2½ feet – remains the longest mark in meet history by more than a foot. Orji’s collegiate outdoor best that she set in 2018 at the SEC Championships is just shy of 48 feet at 14.62m (47-11¾) and tops the all-time chart by more than 10 inches.

All of her records and titles were made even sweeter when the record three-time finalist for The Bowerman finally won the award in 2018 after a sensational senior year on the runway.

posted: May 28, 2020
1921-2021
The NCAA's First Championships

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.

Memorable Moments
The Tie Goes To The Buckeye

Dave Albritton of Ohio State won three consecutive high jump titles at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships & remains one of just two men to do so.

No One Vaulted Like Nilsen At NCAAs

Chris Nilsen of South Dakota set meet records for height and win margin in the pole vault at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.