Hughes Soared To Three Consecutive HJ Titles

Tanya Hughes didn’t have the best mark entering the high jump field at the 1991 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

That never mattered to the Arizona freshman, who faced the same situation at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier in the year and came out as the winner with a PR 1.88m (6-2).

The higher jumper coming in was the same both times – Tisha Waller of North Carolina – and the two were the only ones remaining as the bar was raised to 1.91m (6-3¼).

Waller, already in the lead, applied more pressure by clearing on her first attempt, while Hughes followed with a second-attempt make and a new PR.

The next height – 1.94m (6-4¼) – was not just PR territory for both, but also equal to both the meet record and the outdoor collegiate record.

Hughes cleared on her second attempt to add her name to the all-time chart and take the lead. After Waller missed three times, Hughes won the event as its first freshman in meet history.

Amazingly, Hughes’ mark only equaled the Arizona school record. Katrena Johnson set the NCAA meet mark in 1985 and that collegiate record was matched in 1990 by another Wildcat, Julieann Broughton.

Hughes cleared the records logjam in 1992, winning the Pac-10 meet at 1.97m (6-5½) that also bettered the “all-dates” collegiate outdoor best of 1.96m (6-5) set in 1985 by yet another Wildcat, Maryse Ewanje-Epee. (We’ll feature Johnson and Ewanje-Epee in a future moment involving an historical finish of Arizona high jumpers.)

Seeing Hughes top the podium was a familiar sight over the next few years as she won the NCAA title again in 1992 and 1993, becoming the meet’s first three-time winner in the event. Only one other woman in meet history won three consecutive high jump titles: Brigetta Barrett of – you guessed it – Arizona.