EUGENE, Ore. -- Stanford freshman Xavier Drumgoole rallied to victory on his final jump to become a national champion on Friday.
Drumgoole won the triple jump at the USA Track and Field Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field with a distance of 52-4 ¾ (15.97 meters) on his sixth and final attempt.
The victory came a week after Drumgoole had a difficult performance at the NCAA Championships on the same runway, placing 21st. In that meet, Drumgoole fouled twice and his only legal mark came on a jump that he wasn’t able to follow through with on the final phase.
However, Drumgoole overcame that disappointment with a strong series at the U.S. nationals. He opened with a jump of 51-7 ¼ (15.73) that thrust him into the lead. It stood for two rounds until Jaylen Burris, fifth in the NAIA Championships out of Voorhees University, bolted ahead at 51-11 ¼ (15.83).
But on his sixth attempt, Drumgoole executed perfectly, winning the competition.
Drumgoole completes an outstanding freshman year. At the NCAA West Prelims, he broke Stanford’s oldest frosh record, the 52-3 (15.93) by Allen Meredith in 1970, with a jump of 53-10 ½ (16.42), which placed him No. 2 in Stanford history.