AUSTIN — It took a Texan to beat the national record.
At least that’s how Lake Ridge (Mansfield, Texas) senior Jasmine Moore sees it.
“Texas, we just got it,” said Moore, who broke the 2001 National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) triple jump record that was owned by Ychlindria Spears of Luling. “Our jumpers, our sprinters, Texas track is unbelievable so it’s really exciting.”
Moore’s jump of 44 feet, 10 inches Saturday in the Class 6A competition at the UIL State Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium broke the record of 44-2.25 set in 2001 at the UIL state meet.
Moore, who came into the meet as the Class 5A record holder in the event was competing in 6A after her school was realigned into the largest classification of high schools in Texas high school competition.
On her first jump, Moore posted an effort of 44-1 3/4 to eclipse the 6A record (43-5 1/2) set in 2002 by Plano East’s Erica McLain.
On her second, she jumped 44-10 to bust the NFHS record, which only includes state-meet competitions. The all-time national record, which can include summer track competitions, is 44-11.
Moore will continue her career at the University of Georgia.
The DeSoto (Texas) girls’ 400-meter relay broke their second national record in as many competitions.
The team of JaEra Griffin, Jayla Hollis, Taylor Armstrong and Rosaline Effiong ran 44.24 seconds to beat their own Track & Field News national record set two weeks ago.
With their winning time at the UIL meet, they can now add their name to the national record recognized by the UIL.
The UIL uses NFHS records to designate national records while the Track & Field News records can include meets outside the scope of the NFHS.
At the Region I-6A meet on April 27 in Arlington, DeSoto ran 44.44, which bested the 44.50 run by Long Beach (Calif.) Poly in 2004.