Jenkins Set Low-Altitude Meet Best In 1999

Celebrating A Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships

Jenkins Set Low-Altitude Meet Best In 1999

LaTasha Jenkins of Ball State ran the 200 meters at the 1999 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Boise, Idaho, much the way she might have written one of her short stories – with a great ending. 

Jenkins was a senior English major with a penchant for fiction, but her final race for the Cardinals didn’t exactly start off as a masterpiece.

“She had the world’s worst start,” Ball State coach Kelly Lycan told the Star Press of hometown Muncie, Indiana.

Jenkins threw in a major twist on the homestretch when she caught defending champion Debbie Ferguson of Georgia near the midpoint and stormed home to a solid victory in 22.29, becoming the first women’s NCAA champion for Ball State in any sport. 

Her time was a stunner, too, matching Nebraska’s Merlene Ottey from 1982 and behind only Dawn Sowell of LSU (22.04 in 1989) on the all-time list. 

It wasn’t just that she won the NCAA title, Lycan explained to David Woods for Track & Field News. “It was more the way she did it. She made the crowd go ‘oooh’.”

“I’m not that surprised,” said Jenkins. “I think I was just happy and relieved that I was capable of doing it. Just showing the world that small schools are just as fast.”

posted: November 22, 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
Hornbostel Left Mark As A Hoosier

Chuck Hornbostel of Indiana won three consecutive 800/880 titles between 1932 and 1934 and equaled the world record in the 880 yards in 1933.

LoJo Breaks Barriers, Records In Pole Vault

Lawrence Johnson of Tennessee won back-to-back pole vault titles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships with some of the largest margins of victory in meet history.

Smith Set Records That Will Last Forever

Karin Smith of Cal Poly won the javelin crown at both the 1982 NCAA Division I & NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships with meet records that will never be broken.

Rollins Rewrites Hurdling History
June 8, 2013

Brianna Rollins capped an incredible senior season at the 2013 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships with the two fastest times in collegiate history in the 100 Hurdles.