Josh Colbert wins national title in long jump at NCAA III Championships

By: Andrew Korba

| NCAA Championships Website | Josh Colbert's post competition interview |

DELAWARE -- Senior Josh Colbert won the national championship in the long jump at the NCAA III Championships on Thursday at Selby Stadium on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan.

On the final leap of his college career, Colbert covered 7.46 meters (24-5.75), to clinch the national title.

His leap also broke the school record of 24-1.00, set back in 1981.

"This was my goal all along," said Colbert. "At the beginning of the season, it may have seemed unrealistic, but I gave it my all and am honored to be a national champion."

On his first jump in the finals, Colbert posted a leap of 7.37 meters, to put him in sole possession of first place.

"We have talked about executing and honing down," said assistant coach Casey Gantt. "We took this week by week. He has had some big jumps all season and we talked about how he needed to trust himself to get the end result."

Colbert also teamed with senior Francisque Pierre-Jerome, sophomore Jojuan Fisher, sophomore Christian Rupe in the 4x100-meter relay to post a season best time of 41.29 seconds.

The relay team's time was fourth in their heat and 11th overall.

Junior Catie Huber finished 10th in her heat and 21st overall in the 1,500-meter meter run, crossing the finish line in 4:47.49.

Colbert posted a leap of 7.18 meters on his final jump of the preliminary round, to qualify for the finals.

"I am really proud of Josh," said head coach Jason Maus. "He has worked very hard to achieve this dream. I am also proud of coach Gantt. He put in the hard work and dedication to help Josh win this."

Colbert is third athlete in school history to win a track & field national title and this is the school's fifth overall track & field title.

"No words can describe what I am feeling right now," added Colbert. "I had an end goal of a national title and didn't want to turn in my uniform until I reached it."