Four collegians long-jumped more than 26 feet over the weekend – two for the first time in their young careers – and all four will be in the field for this year’s New Balance Collegiate Invitational, to be held at the Armory Feb. 4-5.
The newest members of the 26-foot club are Damar Forbes (pictured left by photorun.net), a 20-year-old sophomore at LSU, and Justin Hunter, the 19-year-old Tennessee freshman coming off playing wide receiver on the Vols’ football team. Forbes jumped 26-3, Hunter 26-1. Also over the weekend, Zedric Thomas, a teammate of Forbes’s at LSU, jumped a lifetime-best 26-3 ¾ at the Purple Tiger Invitational, and Tarik Batchelor, a junior at Arkansas, went 26-2 ¼ in the Hogs’ dual-meet victory over Texas.
They join three other 26-footers who are expected to compete here – the Texas A&M teammates Melvin Echard (26-0 ¼) and Julian Reid (26-4 ½), and the University of Texas sophomore Marquise Goodwin (26-10). Goodwin was NCAA c...
