Learning from Indoor mistakes helps Carey McLeod soar to outdoor personal best
McLeod, a junior at Tennessee, jumped a personal best 8.34m for victory over the talented LSU junior Juvaughn Harrison, who jumped 8.24m for the silver medal. Bahamian Laquan Nairns, a senior at Arkansas, was third having jumped 8.04m.
The winning jump was a Bryan College-Station facility record and has McLeod as the fourth-best long jumper in Jamaican athletics history. Only 2019 World Champion Tajay Gayle’s (8.69), James Beckford (8.62) and Alain Bailey (8.35m) have jumped farther.
McLeod, who had an indoor best of 8.26m, lost to Harrison at the SEC Indoor Championships in February, said he was not motivated by revenge.
“I am definitely excited that I won but I was not thinking about revenge on anyone but coming off indoors I made so many mistakes and I just told myself that I was not going to make the same mistakes,” he said.
“I know I am capable of jumping far and once I get it right I am going to fly so that’s what I had to do and everything just came together at the right time.
“It’s not every meet that you’re going to win so it was more about being patient; the jumps will come when it matters the most. Indoors wasn’t my favourite, I love outdoors more so I take outdoors way more seriously.”
Notwithstanding his relative dislike for jumping indoors, McLeod carried his good form outdoors, which he believes he will carry into the summer for the Olympics in Tokyo where he intends to be at his best.
“From indoors I was jumping well so I just brought over the same energy and just started focusing on the simple things I was doing wrong. I made more technical adjustments like my approaches and my jump,” he said.
“I still wasn’t perfect on my 8.34m so there is a lot more in the tank. The peaking season is all the way down in summer at the Olympics so I am definitely looking forward to that, so I am taking it meet by meet, putting in all the preparation needed to be among the best because the long jump is going to be the event where everyone is jumping far and I want to be jumping far too.”
Meanwhile, fellow Jamaican Damion Thomas was second in the 110m hurdles. The LSU graduate clocked 13.25 losing to Alabama's Robert Dunning, who ran a personal-best 13.15. Thomas' LSU teammate Eric Edwards Jr was third in 13.27.