Monae Nichols has faced many pressure-filled moments in her track and field career, but perhaps none more stressful than the situation she faced Saturday in the final round of the women's long jump competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
The former Texas Tech All-American responded to the opportunity.
Nichols jumped 22 feet, 6 1/4 inches to move from fifth to third place, just above the Olympic qualifying standard of 6.86 meters, which will earn her a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in Paris.
“Unbelievable, decisive jump,” Texas Tech coach Wes Kitley said. “She was (fifth), not quite at the Olympic standard, and then her last jump puts her in third place and she's at the Olympic standard. It doesn't get any better than that.”
RELATED: Former Texas Tech All-American Monae Nichols wins medal at World Championships
RELATED: Tech's Nichols takes fourth place at NCAA Championships
The 25-year-old Florida native had been in second place after the first round with a 22-2.5 record, but couldn't improve on that mark in her next four tries, picking up three fouls and dropping her to fifth place. She then posted a season-best performance and was ecstatic to see the numbers on the Hayward Field scoreboard.
“It was really impressive to see her stay calm and collected,” Kitley said. “Experience paid off. She didn't panic. She's worked so hard and has come a long way.”
The Olympic track and field events are scheduled to take place from Aug. 1 to 11. For Nichols, who won a bronze medal at the U.S. championships in February and a silver medal at the world championships in March during the indoor season, making the Olympic team would continue a strong 2024 streak.
But as of the start of competition at Hayward Field on Saturday, she had not yet hit the Olympic standard during the qualification period that begins July 1, 2023. She jumped 6.91 meters in Bermuda on April 28 and 7.04 meters in Chula Vista, California, on June 8, but neither jumps were in legal wind conditions. The last time she jumped the legal standard in windy conditions was in June 2023, two weeks before the qualification period began.
“She had a hard time getting legal jumps when she had really good competition,” Kitley said.
Nichols competed at Bethune-Cookman University from 2018-2020 and at Tech University from 2021-2022. As a senior, she earned second and first place at the Big 12 indoor and outdoor meets and second and fourth place at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships.
She continues to train in Lubbock with Texas Tech assistant coach Keith Hurston.
Courtney Lindsay placed sixth in the 200 meters and Aleisha Johnson won the semifinals of the women's 100 meter hurdles.
In other competitions featuring former Texas Tech athletes on Saturday, Courtney Lindsay placed sixth in the men's 200-meter final in a time of 20.00 seconds. Aleisha Johnson won the women's 100-meter hurdles semifinals in a time of 12.36 seconds. Simone Watkins failed to advance past the semifinals in the women's 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1 minute, 1.33 seconds.
Lindsay, who placed sixth in the 100 meters last week, can still be selected for the U.S. 400-meter relay team.
Johnson is scheduled to compete in the final at 7 p.m. CDT on Sunday, the final day of competition at Hayward Field.
RELATED: Gabby Thomas wins 200m at Olympic Track Trials, Shakari Richardson places fourth
RELATED: Noah Lyles wins 200m, competes in two sprint events at Olympic Trials
Bryce Hoppel, Caleb Dean set to head to Paris on Sunday
In the boys' 800-meter final, Midland native and six-time All-American Bryce Hoppel will again seek a national title along with former Tech All-American Jonah Koech. At 6:51 p.m.
The men's 400m hurdles final will pit Tech's Caleb Dean, a Bowerman Award finalist, and former South Plains College star and Alabama alum Chris Robinson against American record holder Rhy Benjamin at 7:20 p.m. Dean and Robinson were first and second in the event three weeks ago at the NCAA Championships in Eugene.
The boys' triple jump, starting at 5:55 p.m., will feature three-time U.S. champion Omar Craddock, a former Littlefield Elementary School student.
RELATED: Texas Tech hurdler Caleb Dean a finalist for the Bowerman Award
RELATED: Texas Tech's Caleb Dean, Courtney Lindsay and Jonah Koech advance to Olympic Trials final
