Dendy’s Double-Double Put Him Among Greats

No male athlete has collected more titles in the horizontal jumps at the NCAA Championships since the turn of the millennium than Marquis Dendy of Florida.

During an illustrious career with the Gators, Dendy captured seven crowns between the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, including an awe-inspiring 2015 where he completed the long jump-triple jump double-double and hoisted The Bowerman in December.

Speaking of 2015, after an indoor season where he easily swept the horizontal jumps and became the first man in meet history to eclipse 57 feet in the triple jump, Dendy turned his attention outdoors. Just the previous year, Dendy went two-for-two at the NCAA Championships for the first double since 2002 (Walter Davis) and looked to defend both titles.

First up for Dendy was the long jump on Wednesday, where he was one of seven men who had posted marks of 26 feet or better during the regular season. The promise of fierce competition brought out the best in the Delaware native, as he rebounded from a second-attempt foul to post his winning mark of 8.43m (27-8) soon after. Dendy also equaled or topped 8.00m (26-3) three other times, including efforts of 8.34m (27-4½) and 8.27m (27-1¾).

Winning the triple jump was more of a formality and Dendy put on a show. After an opening mark of 17.50m (57-5) that would have won the competition by nearly two feet, Dendy extended to a wind-aided 17.54m (57-6½) on his fourth attempt and blew that out of the water with a wind-aided 17.71m (58-1¼) to close it out. That first mark, which was wind-legal, sits third in meet history; the sixth is third, too, but on the all-conditions list.

Later that summer, Dendy won the U.S. title in the long jump at 8.68m (28-5½) and while it was heavily wind-aided, it was one of the biggest jumps under any condition in more than five years worldwide. Dendy, who also placed third in the triple jump that year at the U.S. meet, struggled at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and needed to wait until the following year to capture his first global medal, where he was golden in the long jump at the World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon.