Myricks Starred Across Divisions At NCAAs
It took three years, but Larry Myricks of Mississippi College finally made it back to the top of the podium in the long jump at the 1979 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Half of that time – 18 months – was spent recovering from a broken ankle suffered while warming up for the finals of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Myricks had won the long jump at the 1976 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a leap of 7.96m (26-1½) and looked to be part of a U.S. medal sweep in Montreal.
“This championship was more satisfying than the one in 1976,” Myricks told Lee Baker of the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi. “Because a lot of people said after I got hurt in Montreal that I’d never be able to come back.”
Myricks’ comeback in 1979 – with a then-PR of 8.11m (26-7¼) – was actually just beginning.
He finished the summer with an incredible 8.52m (27-11½) to win the World Cup at the very same Montreal Olympic Stadium where his career got derailed. At the time, the only jump longer was Bob Beamon’s famous 8.90m (29-2½) from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
DID YOU KNOW: Mississippi College is an NCAA Division II program and was when Myricks competed, so he got an opportunity to rack up national titles in each division in his career (That was when top NCAA DII & NCAA DIII athletes were invited to compete at the NCAA DI Championships). In addition to those NCAA DI crowns, he added five more to his haul at the NCAA DII meet, with three coming in the long jump (1976, 1978-1979) and two more in the 200 (1978-1979).
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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