Tag: Jaydon Hibbert

Jaydon Hibbert, Arkansas’ track-and-field-Heisman winner, to turn pro

Arkansas triple-jumper Jaydon Hibbert will next look to win gold for Jamaica at the Paris Olympics.

Jaydon Hibbert is one and done.

The Arkansas track-and-field star announced Thursday he was turning professional after one year with the Razorbacks. But what a year it was.

Hibbert won both the SEC indoor and outdoor and the NCAA indoor and outdoor national championships in the triple jump. He also set two college records while doing so. That led his winning of the the Bowerman Award, the Heisman trophy equivalent of track-and-field, in December.

“You have been more than just a school to me, You’ve been a family!” Hibbert wrote. “To all my coaches, teammates and professors, you’ve shaped me into the athlete and person I am today! You’ve instilled in me the RAZORBACK spirit which I’ll carry with me on my professional journey!”

Hibbert broke the NCAA record for indoor triple jump in March by bounding 57-6 1/2, besting a total set by Charleston Southern’s Charlie Simpkins back in 1986. Hibbert then broke Keith Connor’s outdoor record of 57-7 3/4 by leaping 58-7 1/2. Connor’s record had held since 1982.

The Paris Olympics begin in about six months and Hibbert is expected to be in the running for a medal in the triple jump for his country of Jamaica. He did not say with whom he was signing professionally when he made his announcement.

Trio of Razorback jumpers among track & field’s Bowerman watch list

Three Arkansas jumpers have been named to the Bowerman preseason watch list for the nation’s top track & field athlete.

Just four weeks after being named the winner of the 2023 Bowerman award, Arkansas sophomore Jaydon Hibbert now leads a trio of Razorback jumpers on this year’s Bowerman preseason watch list.

The Bowerman is the annual track and field trophy presented to the year’s best collegiate athlete. Similar to football’s Heisman Trophy, it is the sport’s highest achievement.

The list of 10 was released Wednesday and included Hibbert, along with a pair of teammates, senior Romaine Beckford and junior Wayne Pinnock. All three are natives of Jamaica.

Arkansas is the first men’s program to have three athletes on a preseason watch list.

Hibbert was the youngest winner in the award’s 15-year history and the second Razorback to win the award. As an 18-year-old freshman, he claimed a pair of NCAA titles in the triple jump, while producing last year’s world-leading mark with a 58-7.5 (17.87) performance. That mark broke the outdoor collegiate record from 1982, as well as the world U20 record from 1985.

At the indoor national championships, Hibbert needed just one jump of 57-6.5 (17.54) to capture the NCAA title, breaking the collegiate and Arkansas school-record, set by Mike Conley in 1985, as well as the world U20 record and Jamaican national record.

Pinnock, who swept the NCAA long jump titles as a freshman at Tennessee in 2022, won the SEC outdoor title as a Razorback last season, then was runner-up to teammate Carey McLeod at NCAA championships. He also finished second at SEC indoor meet and fourth in the NCAA meet.

Beckford has yet to compete for Arkansas after transferring from South Florida, where he was a double NCAA high jump champion. He set career bests during the 2023 season with a clearance of 7-5.25 (2.27) to win the NCAA Outdoor title and 7-5 (2.26) indoors in winning a conference title.

While at South Florida, Beckford claimed four American Athletic Conference league titles – two indoor and two outdoor – while earning the 2023 AAC Indoor Field Most Outstanding Performance.

The Razorback trio have combined for six titles and 73 points in NCAA Championships the past two years, and each claimed a title at the 2023 Jamaica Championships in their respective events.

Arkansas has now had 12 men named to the watch list all-time, second only to Florida’s 15.

The women’s preseason Bowerman watch list was announced on Tuesday, but did not include any Razorbacks.

Arkansas track and field’s Hibbert wins prestigious Bowerman Award

Jaydon Hibbert took home the most prestigious award a collegiate track and field athlete can win on Thursday night.

Jaydon Hibbert etched his name in the Arkansas track and field’s history books last night in Denver.

The freshman from Jamaica became the first freshman male and the youngest to ever win the Bowerman Award which goes to the top collegiate track & field athlete.

He is only the second Razorback to ever win it, joining Texarkana’s Jarrion Lawson who won it in 2016.

The award comes after Hibbert produced an undefeated collegiate season in the triple jump, including a sweep of the SEC and NCAA titles. He has also broken decades old collegiate and world U20 records while finishing the year as a track and field world leader.

Arkansas is the fourth school to have a pair of men’s winners, joining Florida State, Florida, and Oregon.

Hibbert earns field scholar athlete of the year award for 2023

The future is bright for Jaydon Hibbert, a freshman from Jamaica who took home both indoor and outdoor Scholar Athlete of the Year honors for the Arkansas track and field team.

Arkansas freshman Jaydon Hibbert made school history on Thursday when he was announced as the indoor and outdoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Hibbert, a Jamaica native, becomes the first Razorback to win the award and only the third to sweep both the indoor and outdoor honors, joining Ryan Whiting in 2010 and Turner Washington in 2021.

The entire indoor team from Arkansas was named the Indoor National Scholar Team of the Year, which was the first time since 2015 that the Razorbacks had captured that honor.

Other Arkansas athletes earning an All-Academic honor for the first time in addition to Hibbert included Chris Bailey, Ethan Carney, Tomas Ferrari, and Rojé Stona.

The Arkansas women’s indoor team was also bestowed the Indoor National Scholar Team of the Year. This is the ninth time they have received this and 24 athletes earned All-Academic honors.

Hogs collect SEC honors for men’s and women’s track teams

The Arkansas track and field program continues to add to its prestige, adding multiple SEC outdoor honors to the trophy case.  

The Arkansas track and field program continues to add to its prestige. Both the men’s and women’s teams received multiple SEC outdoor honors to add to the trophy case.

On Wednesday, the conference office revealed the men’s team garnered five SEC Outdoor awards, which the league coaches voted on. Chris Bucknam was named Coach of the Year, and Jaydon Hibbert received two awards for Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman Field Athlete of the Year.

Ben Shearer was recognized as co-Freshman Runner of the Year.

Over his 15-year tenure with the Razorbacks, Bucknam has been named SEC Coach of the Year an impressive 30 times. His latest accolade came during the outdoor season, bringing his total to eight, in addition to 10 in cross country and 12 during the indoor season.

Britton Wilson has been awarded SEC Runner of the Year on the women’s side, and Lance Harter, the Razorback head coach, has been named SEC Coach of the Year.

This marks Harter’s 46th overall SEC Coach of the Year honor and 10th accolade during the outdoors season in his final season as head coach with Arkansas. He has also received the honor 22 times in cross country and 14 times during the indoor season.

Wilson is the second Arkansas athlete with two SEC Outdoor Runner of the Year honors. Dominique Scott claimed the honor in 2015 and shared the accolade in 2016.

A pair of Razorbacks receive National Athlete of the Week Honors

On the heels of dominating the SEC Outdoor Championship, two athletes from the Razorbacks program were named National Players of the Week. 

On the heels of dominating the SEC Outdoor Championship, two athletes from the Razorbacks’ program were named National Players of the Week.

Freshman Jaydon Hibbert and junior Britton Wilson received National Athlete of the Week honors for their performance in the SEC championships this past weekend.

Hibbert earned the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honor after winning the SEC Outdoor triple jump title and breaking a 41-year-old collegiate record by nearly a foot. Hibbert completes the SEC sweep by combining his outdoor championship with the SEC Indoor title he won back in February.

Hibbert freshman season has been nothing short of legendary. He currently has the no. 2 Jamaican performance in the country’s all-time list, behind only James Beckford from the 1995 NJCAA Championships in Odessa, Texas.

Britton Wilson earns her NAOTW honor with her performance, defending her 400m and 400m hurdles crowns.

Her winning times of 49.13 in the 400m and 53.28 in the 400m hurdles are the world’s best times in both events this year. Over the weekend, she posted the top three times this season for both events.

In 2022, Wilson became the first female to achieve the double-win and the first athlete in the SEC since Auburn’s David Adkins became the lone individual to have previously completed the task in 1966.