On Saturday, May 30, Jazz Trice accomplished a feat never before achieved by an Aggie as he qualified for the NCAA Division I Track and Field National Championships.
In virtue of his personal record run of 13.57 seconds in the 110m hurdlers, Trice placed third in the West Regional.
Trice doesn’t even think he ran his best race.
“I felt like I had an okay start,” Trice said. “I really picked up toward the end. When I saw people were catching up to me on my right I told myself I don’t care what comes from this race, I just got to get top five. I cut up my knee badly, but it didn’t matter. I technically had an okay race. It wasn’t the best but it’s all about just trying to finish in the right place to advance.“
Trice’s accomplishments don’t end there. While the school record entering the season was 14.01, Trice ran under the 14-second barrier five times. One of those occasions not only netted him a then-school record, but also gave him the 2009 Big West Conference Title in the 110m hurdles.
In fact, before the Regional Championships, Trice had lost only once in the 110m hurdlers. The victor? Former school record holder and fellow national championships qualifier Polly Gnepa.
“It’s been great [training with Jazz],” said Gnepa. “It’s nice to run against someone who you know will push you every day at practice. It’s like how it feels in meets – that competition type atmosphere everyday.“
– Alex Wolf-Root
