Former Rebel Reese claims another world gold
Published 6:06 am Sunday, March 20, 2016
PORTLAND, Ore. — It came down to the final jump of the night, and former Ole Miss great Brittney Reese did what she almost always does – produce. Reese went from silver to gold in the long jump with her sixth and final leap of 7.22m/23-8.25 at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon.
With the win, Reese claimed the third world indoor title of her career and her seventh global crown overall, which includes the 2012 Olympic gold medal.
A two-time NCAA champion during her Rebel career (2007-08), Reese has been the dominant world figure in the women’s long jump for nearly a decade. Her world-leading jump of 23-8.25 Friday is the furthest indoor leap by any woman in the world since Reese’s own American-record mark of 23-8.75 in 2012. In fact, only two women in all of history have ever had a better indoor long jump than Reese – Germany’s Heike Dreschler and Russia’s Galina Chistyakova, both in the 1980s.
Her winning jump capped an impressive series on Friday night that included leaps of 22-11.75, 22-10.5 and 22-7.
Meanwhile in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the current Ole Miss track & field team got through only two events at the Alabama Relays before weather cancelled any more competition for the day. The women’s 4×200-meter relay squad of Nicole Henderson, Shannon Ray, Mercedes Mattix and Deanna Tate clocked a time of 1:37.60 for third place before the rain and lightning took over.