June 12, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.- Georgia Tech Senior Jerome Miller placed fourth in the high jump while earning All-America honors at the 2009 NCAA Track & Field Championships Friday at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark. Junior Alphonso Jordan qualified for the finals of the triple jump earlier on the day.
“It’s kind of bitter sweet,” Miller said. “It wasn’t my worst day and it wasn’t my best, but I really wanted to place higher. I did however posted my highest ever finish at the NCAA’s and I am very happy about that.”
Miller, who earned the highest place on the podium ever by a Tech male in the high jump, cleared the bar on his first attempt at the 7’2.50″ height. Down to the final four contestants at 7’3.75″, Miller came very close to clearing what would be a school-record height but couldn’t keep manage to keep the bar stable. His fourth-place finish is the highest by a Tech male performer since 1998, when Angelo Taylor placed first in the 400-meter hurdles and also joined Jonas Motiejunas, Tomas Motiejunas and Michael Johnson for a title in the 4×400-meter relay.
The Stafford, Va. native earns his second-career All-America honor and first since the 2006 season. He joins junior Steve Marcelle as Tech 2009 outdoor All-Americans.
The 2009 ACC and NCAA East Region Champion puts quite an ending to a remarkable career on the Flats where he will go down as the best high jumper in Georgia Tech men’s track & field history.
Kansas State’s Scott Sellers took the high jump title with a clearance of 7’5″.
Earlier in the evening, Jordan posted the eighth-best mark in the triple jump prelims with a distance of 52’6″. He will compete in the finals on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. CBS will provide live coverage.
