AUSTIN BOUND! Johnathan Jones Advances to NCAA Championships in High Jump

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Little Rock native Johnathan Jones continues to set the standard for the Trojans program. Finishing tied for fourth Friday in Sacramento after clearing 7-¼ (2.14m), Jones became the first Little Rock athlete to advance to the NCAA Championships in the high jump.
 
Jones becomes the first Trojan athlete since 2018 to advance to the NCAA Championships and the first ever in a field event. He will head to Austin, Texas and will compete on Friday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. CT.

"I'm just happy to do it for my city and my team," Jones said. "I made a promise to my brothers and I am happy to keep it going."
 
The Little Rock Central High product became the seventh to advance to the NCAA Championships from Little Rock, following Leo Settle (200m) in 1997, Chris Johnson in the 100m in 2002, 2004 and 2005, and Charles Okeze (200m) and the men's 4x100m relay in 2018.
 

AUSTIN BOUND! Little Rock's @501ovopapa clears 2.14m (7-¼) to finish T-4th and he ADVANCES to Austin, Texas and the #NCAATF Championships! #LittleRocksTeam #OVCit pic.twitter.com/lBIFPgQGxO

— Little Rock TF/XC (@LittleRockTFXC) May 27, 2023

Meanwhile on the track, Little Rock's 4x100m relay team clocked a season-best time of 39.50 – registering the second-fastest time in school history – as the Trojans finished 14^th. Little Rock missed advancing by 0.11 seconds, finishing just 0.01 seconds behind UTSA and 0.11 seconds behind UCLA and the final advancing spot.
 
The Trojan relay squad edged BYU by 0.01 seconds, a Cougar squad that ranked 21^st in the nation entering the postseason. Little Rock also raced by Baylor, currently ranked 18^th in the nation, by 0.04 seconds and sped well past former conference foe and 2023 Sun Belt Champion Texas State by 0.45 seconds.
 
Little Rock's 4x100m relay quartet of Cogan DeRousselle, TaVieon Neal, Frankie Grey and Troy McKnight also beat noted national powers such as Stanford, Oklahoma, Grand Canyon, Northern Iowa and TCU as the Trojans finished 14^th, recording the second-fastest time of any non-Power 5 school between both the East and West Prelims (behind UTSA).
 
For the latest information on Little Rock Track & Field, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockTFXC on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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