Triple Jumper Floyd Ross Finished at US Olympic Trials
June 28, 2012
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — University of New Mexico triple jumper Floyd Ross finished competition today in the preliminary round of the men’s triple jump at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, placing 16th and missing the cut to the final round of competition.
Ross entered the competition at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field needing to score both a massive personal record in the form of an Olympic A Standard and a top-three finish in the final round of competition to make it to the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Despite missing his goals, the New Mexico senior ended the day with a respectable 52-foot, two-inch (15.90-meter) jump that placed 16th overall. He finished with the fourth-best jump by a collegian and missed advancing to Saturday’s final by just 13 inches (33 cm).
The Memphis, Tenn., product via Barton County Community College opened the day with a solid jump of 50-9.25 (15.47m), which ranked 13th through the first round of jumps. He slipped down to 19th after his second jump was only 50-5.5 (15.38m), but moved back up after his last of three leaps measured in at a 15.90m.
The Lobos still have one more athlete to compete at their nation’s Olympic Trials as Canadian high jumper Django Lovett will take a shot at London on Saturday in Calgary, Alberta. Lovett will try to join former New Mexico and La Cueva High School athlete Jarrin Solomon, who has already earned his spot on the Trinidad and Tobago national team.