ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Northwestern State junior Emmanuel Williams, facing a do-or-die third attempt in the qualifying round of the long jump Friday night at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, uncorked the jump of his career that earned him a fourth-place finish and pending first-team All-America honors.
Williams, one of 16 qualifiers in the event in his first national indoor meet, overcame a foul on his first attempt and a subpar mark on his second try with a 25-7 ¼ leap that kept him in the competition, ranking him third going to the nine-man finals. While he didn't better the mark on his next three tries, the junior from Duson and Acadiana High School gave NSU its top NCAA Indoor performance in 10 years.
Arkansas sophomore Jarrion Lawson won with a 27-6 ½ leap, followed by Rutgers junior Cory Crawford (26-3 ½), freshman Rolf Pienaar of Arkansas State, Williams and Nebraska junior Patrick Raedler (25-6). Pienaar had the same best mark as Williams but placed third because his second-best jump Friday night was longer than Williams' next best.
"All I was trying to do tonight was to make it onto the (eight-man awards) podium," said Williams, who entered the competition seeded ninth with a then personal-record 25-6 while winning at last month's Southland Indoors. "Eighth place would have been good for me. I'm really proud I could represent NSU, my teammates and coaches by finishing fourth."
"We're extremely proud of Emmanuel and his coach, Wes Miller, for the jobs they've done," said head coach Mike Heimerman. "It's a historic achievement and as an alumnus and the head coach, I'm just thrilled. It's an awesome night for us and a sign of more great things to come for Northwestern State track and field."
Williams' finish will earn him first-team All-America honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, which will announce honors Monday. It's the sixth All-America award won in the last 10 months by the NSU program, which picked up five at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Williams was an NCAA regional qualifier last spring outdoors but didn't advance to the national championship meet. He hadn't been over 25 feet until his big jump at the Southland Indoors, and has improved his personal record by almost a foot in the past three weeks.
The rest of the NSU team, including his twin brother Aaron, competes Saturday at McNeese to open the outdoor season.