JuVaughn Harrison Feature

JuVaughn Harrison – 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships

Reaching Historic Heights – and Lengths

Written by Cody Worsham June 2019

Two thoughts raced through JuVaughn Harrison’s “The reason people don’t normally do both (high people who motivated me to do my best.” mind, as he prepared for the biggest jumps of his life. and long jump) is because there’s two different The motivation goes both ways. Harrison lived

Be clean, or jump your butt off. techniques,” Harrison says. “For long jump, you’re with three U20 gold medalists this year, and they

Doing one or the other, Harrison knew, would give going out – high jump, you’re going up. used to joke with him about his bronze medal during him a shot at the high jump national title. “Sometimes I’ll be long jumping, and instead of the fall semester.

Doing both, Harrison knew not, would give him a going out, I’ll go up and and come straight back Safe to say, after netting 20 points for the team shot at history. down into the sand and not jump as far. So it’s really with a historic double at the 2019 NCAA outdoor

Two days after Harrison claimed the 2019 NCAA just finding the balance between knowing when to championships, Harrison’s had the last laugh. outdoor title in the long jump by leaping 8.20 meters go out versus when to go up.” “JuVaughn had an incredible year,” Duplantis into the pit – not too bad for a guy who used to Harrison’s found that balance, and he has the noted. “He was probably the fourth best athlete at consider himself “a high jumper who did long jump” – hardware to prove it. He arrived at LSU in the fall of the time when we first moved into the apartment, he was after the same result in the high jump. 2017 with more pedigree going up than out. His 2.18 he’s now at the top of it, for sure.”

The high jump has always been Harrison’s meter PR high jump in high school was elite, ranking The recipe for his ascension was simple: hard forte. It’s the event in which, in the summer of fourth in the nation among prep athletes, while his work. That included a new physical regimen, as 2018, despite coming off a disappointing-by-his- long jump failed to crack the top 25 nationally and Harrison bulked up and improved his strength, standards freshman season in 2018, he placed fell a full meter short of the nation’s best mark. attacking the weight room all year with a ferocity third to take bronze for the U.S. at the IAAF World “LSU recruited me for high jump, and then they fueled by his freshman season. U20 Championships, an accomplishment that both would make me do long jump to take a little bit of “From his freshman year to sophomore year, he’s restored his confidence and made him hungry for pressure off of my time off from the high jump, really trained hard,” said head coach Dennis Shaver. more success. because focusing so much on one thing can be bad,” “That’s been a huge benefit for him. He’s consistently

It also ate at him – all year. All that separated him Harrison recalled. “So then I was a high jumper who trained hard, he’s gotten a lot stronger, and certainly from gold at the U20 world championships was one did long jump, but this year [2019] showed me I’m he’s a great athlete to begin with. But you add miss: he needed two attempts to clear the gold- both a high and long jumper.” that extra power behind him, boy, he’s really been winning mark of 2.23 meters his competitors cleared It’s not just his legs that brought value to LSU in consistently performing at a really high level.” in one attempt. 2019. Harrison’s personality played a big part in the He also grew stronger mentally, buying in to

He wouldn’t make that mistake again. Tigers’ success as a team this year, which included what his coaches were telling him more and, as a

“Going into [2019] NCAAs, I just knew I had to be the program’s first SEC outdoor championship since byproduct, finding himself more relaxed come meet clean,” Harrison recalls. “And if I wasn’t clean, I was 1990. time. about to jump my butt off. “The way he carries himself – he’s so confident “I just trusted the process, trusted my coaches,”

“So I was able to be clean and jump my butt off.” in what he’s doing now,” mentioned NCAA record- Harrison said. “Last year, they were changing a lot,

Nine jumps and 2.27 meters later, Harrison held holder Mondo Duplantis, who also lived with Harrison and I was very reluctant to change. This year I said, history in his hands, becoming the first man in NCAA during his freshman season before turning pro. “He’s ‘You know what? I’m just gonna go all in and what outdoor championships history to win both the long doing two events, high and long jump, which aren’t happens, happens.’ jump and the high jump national titles. very similar events. It’s very difficult, and I don’t “It worked out for me.”

The history didn’t stop there. The rare high-jump/ think people understand how great the things he’s As impressive as his sophomore campaign was, long-jump dualist, Harrison became just the second doing is. It’s so hard to switch from high jump to long Harrison knows he still has room for improvement. man in outdoor track and field history to reach his jump, because of the rhythm of everything and how He currently ranks second in school history in the marks of 2.27 meters high and 8.2 meters long, different they are in general. high jump and fourth in the long. Next up. A big 2020 joining Germany’s Henry Lauterbach, who jumped “He brought a lot of fire to the team. We had a lot season. 2.30 meters in the high jump in 1978 and 8.35 meters of characters on the 2019 team that hyped everybody In other words, Harrison’s not done jumping his in the long jump in 1981. up, and he’s definitely toward the top of the list of butt off, just yet.