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Capital University junior Joshua Woods heads to Claremont, Calif., this week for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships this Thursday through Saturday, May 24-26.
Woods qualified for the long jump with a school-record mark of 23-08.25 feet at the North Central College Gregory Invite last Friday in the team's final regular season meet prior to the NCAAs. With his clutch performance in the Chicago-area meet, the Marysville, Ohio, native shot up the ranks to the 18th-best mark in the nation, therefore qualifying for the national meet, which fields the top 20 competitors.
The long jump is scheduled for Thursday, the first day of competition, at 5:50 p.m. There is no preliminary round for the event, and the top eight finishers earn All-American honors.
Woods and first-year Capital coach Kunle Lawson, who is accompanying Woods on the trip, believe Woods has a realistic shot at earning All-America status.
"I hope to go beyond my mark in Chicago," Woods said. "I got my best mark, but I can do a lot better. At nationals, it's not about who has the best mark (going into the meet), but who shows up.
"I'm still rearing and ready to go, and I'm going to show up, just like I did in Chicago."
Woods admitted to having nerves at his first two NCAA Championship appearances during his freshman year in 2010. He placed 15th in the long jump at the indoor meet with a mark of 20-11.00, and finished 11th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.67 seconds at the outdoor championships.
Plagued by injuries during the 2010-11 campaign, Woods was hungry to return to the NCAAs when the 2011-12 season began. After placing second in the long jump and third in the triple jump at the Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, Woods finished a disappointing 25th in the long jump at the OAC Outdoor Championships.
Following the conference meet, Woods recorded his best long jump marks of the outdoor season, including the best jump of his career last Friday.
Knowing he needed a high mark to qualify for the NCAAs, Woods tried to keep the pressure of the situation out of his mind and focus on the task at hand.
"I didn't think about it, because that's the one thing that'll get you down when it comes to long jump," Woods said. "It's not a thinking sport, you just have to run and jump."
A two-time H. Dillard Award winner as the Most Outstanding Sprint Athlete at the OAC Outdoor Championships, Woods currently holds all-time program records in the 200-meter dash (indoor and outdoor), long jump (outdoor) and triple jump (outdoor). He was the OAC Indoor champion in the 200 in 2010.
Woods will compete against 19 other student-athletes, including five alone from Wisconsin-La Crosse. Wartburg (Iowa) sophomore Jonas Elusme is the defending indoor long jump champion and the No. 1 seed with a top mark of 25-03.50. Paul Turner, a junior from La Verne (Calif.), is the defending outdoor champion in the long jump and enters the weekend with the 12th-best mark. John Carroll junior Mike Minjock joins Woods as the lone OAC representatives in the long jump.
Woods put things in perspective following his performance at the 2010 indoor national championships.
"As I look back, it was great to make history," Woods said at the time. "This is just a start for Capital because we will have more athletes competing at this level soon. I also know that in the next couple of years I will be a threat at NCAAs."
It is Woods' hope – and the hope of Lawson and the rest of the Crusader track & field program – that his thoughts ring true this Thursday and beyond.
