National champion! South Carolina freshman wins high jump at NCAA championships
.jpg "South Carolina’s Rachel Glenn won the high jump at the NCAA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field championships on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon.")
Rachel Glenn added another championship to South Carolina’s track and field program.
The Gamecock freshman won the high jump at the NCAA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Oregon on Saturday. Glenn won the title with a jump of 1.93 meters (6 feet, 4 inches). It is the 26th individual national championship in school history.
“It feels amazing. I will be happier when I go 6-foot-5 next week in the Olympic trials next week,” Glenn said.
Glenn qualified for the event with a mark of 1.91 meters, second best in the nation coming into the meet. She also qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials that will take place the week after outdoor nationals.
Glenn is the first true freshman to win in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 15 years. She is the first USC national champion in the high jump since 2015 when future Olympian Jeannelle Scheper won the title.
Glenn cleared seven bars on the way to the national title.
“Rachel was so dialed in today,” USC women’s track and field assistant head coach Delethea Quarles said. “This field is incredible. Nothing at nationals is guaranteed. ... We are happy for her success. Her youth in this sport makes it even more exciting since she has done it at this age. Her development and this goes down in the record books for a very long time.”
This is the California native’s second time at the NCAA championship level. Glenn qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships and used three personal records to propel herself to a national runner-up finish.
This story was originally published June 12, 2021 at 9:19 PM.
