Jordan Aims to Close Career With All-American Honors at NCAAs

Tristan Jordan

Tristan Jordan (Virginia Beach, Va. / Floyd E. Kellam) will represent The College of Wooster at this week’s NCAA Div. III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which are being held in Oshkosh, Wis., for the second-straight season. Jordan is seeded 14th in the triple jump via a season-best mark of 46 feet, 11 inches, and the event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 24, at 11:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time (12:30 p.m. EDT).

While the Fighting Scots have had competitors in the women’s field the last two years, this marks the first time a member of the men’s team has earned an invite to the NCAAs since 2002 when Marty Coppola placed 12th in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

Jordan, a senior, hopes to reach the finals and then place among the top-eight, which would land him a spot on the All-America Team. He’ll have three jumps during the prelims, and then if he advances, three more to better his previous top mark.

“The main goal is to try and get into the top-nine and make it into finals, and challenge the top guys in the country for an All-American slot,” explained Wooster’s 19th-year head coach Dennis Rice.

Jordan’s 46 feet, 11 inch triple jump came at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships on May 3. It marked a school record and the first conference title of his career after coming close previously via three runner-up showings.

“That was such a huge effort for him,” Rice said. “As a senior, he really stepped up and performed at his highest capabilities. He put the whole package together. For him to get to the national championships and win the conference title, there’s no better way to finish up.”

Rice added it couldn’t happen to a better person.

“(Tristan) is what I consider a true Wooster track & field guy. He’s the type who would do anything for the program that is asked.”

Also noteworthy, Scot sophomore and fellow triple jump specialist Eric Dyer (Lexington, Mass. / Lexington) was just left off the list of invitees for nationals. Dyer tied for 18th-place with three others, having hit a then-school record of 46 feet, 9.5 inches April 25.