Smith Jumped Her Way Into Elite Company

Was Trecia-Kaye Smith of Pittsburgh a triple jumper who could long jump or a long jumper who could triple jump?

Smith has unmatched superlatives in both events – the most women’s combined indoor/outdoor NCAA long jump titles with five, and the longest-lasting outdoor triple jump collegiate record at 14 years.

Though Smith – whose first name is pronounced “TREE-see-uh-kay” – had just one triple jump title at the NCAA Outdoor meet, that victory in 1998 was perhaps the most satisfying of any of her seven combined NCAA titles (a women’s horizontal jump total surpassed only by Keturah Orji of Georgia with eight).

It was at the 1998 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships where Smith staked her triple jump winning mark of 13.98m (45-10½) on her first attempt. It was Smith’s second-longest effort ever, at the time, and a stark contrast to the 1997 NCAA Outdoor meet, in which she collapsed on the runway and was carted off with a hamstring injury.

In 1997, Smith attempted a unique quad of events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships – the heptathlon and high jump, in addition to her specialties of the long and triple jumps. She sported an impressive set of seasonal bests at 5931 points in the heptathlon, 1.81m (5-11¼) in the high jump, 6.71m (22-0¾) in the long jump and 14.22m (46-8) in the triple jump – the latter an outdoor CR set just two weeks earlier, but was only able to start three.

Everything started fine for Smith on Day 1 with a long jump victory at 6.65m (21-10), but Day 3 was a challenge with the triple jump going on during the heptathlon’s first day. Smith darted over to the triple jump runway after the heptathlon high jump and was in second place in the TJ after three rounds. But there would be no fourth attempt as she collapsed with a pulled right hamstring.

Injuries, unfortunately, were common for Smith, who felt strong before her final NCAA meet in 1999, telling Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “For the past two years I have actually remained consistent instead of improving, and that’s due to injuries.”

“I’m healthy now,” Smith continued. “I’m expecting to be once more out there in front of them (her competitors). I’m not saying they’re not going to follow me or even beat me, but when I was healthy they were nowhere close.”

The 1999 NCAA meet had a similar schedule to 1997, with the triple jump again conflicting with the heptathlon’s first day. Smith won the long jump with a seasonal best 6.61m (21-8¼), finished a close second in the triple jump to Baylor’s Stacey Bowers and was in second place in the heptathlon going into the final event – alas, the 800 was not one of Smith’s strongest and she finished 10^th.

As a post-collegian, Smith found her most success in the triple jump, in which in 2005 she became the first Jamaican woman to win any World Championships field event title.