SAN MARCOS, Texas- As he stood on the long jump runway at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field West Preliminaries in College Station, Texas,
Ronnie Briscoe had just one thought in his head.
"This could be the last jump of my career, or it could just be getting me one step closer to where I really want to be," Briscoe said, a senior on Texas State's track and field team.
Briscoe had been at the NCAA West Preliminary before as a freshman when he started his collegiate career with a "bang."
He was the long jump champion at the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships with a wind-aided leap of 7.59 meters (24-feet, 11-inches). He was named All-Sun Belt Conference First-Team and qualified to compete at the NCAA West Preliminaries.
"I didn't make the most of it (in his freshman season), but I enjoyed the experience," Briscoe said. "Then, after my freshman season, things didn't go as planned."
First, he lost his cousin, Taivunn Briscoe, who was murdered in Waco in March 2018.
"His death hit me hard," Briscoe said. "I had a little downfall with depression, and it impacted a lot of things."
Entering the 2021 season, a high ankle sprain and COVID protocols forced him to sit out most of the indoor season.
He jumped for the first time at the Akron Invitational on February 6 and finished third with a leap of 7.07 meters (23 feet, 2.50 inches).
"I had one of the best starts I possibly could have had," Briscoe said. "That helped a lot."
Two weeks later, Briscoe finished third in the long jump at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor meet with 7.31 meters (23 feet, 11.75 inches).
He opened the outdoor season at the Bobcat Invitational and Texas Relays on March 25-27. He jumped 7.05 meters (23 feet, 1.75 inches) at the Texas Relays before "popping off a Top 10 mark" to win the long jump at the Bobcat Invitational with wind-aided 7.72 meters (25 feet. 4 inches). While the wind measured +3.5 meters per second, exceeding an allowable tailwind of 2 meters per second, the jump qualified him for the NCAA Outdoor West Preliminaries for the second time in his career.
He entered the NCAA Outdoor West Preliminaries with a fresh attitude and experience he gained as a freshman.
"Coach (Fabien Corbillion) texted me to just go in with a plan of executing, and don't worry about the outcome," Briscoe said. "I was able to process a lot of things differently this time. I knew what to expect, so I didn't overthink anything and went out there to have some fun."
Briscoe opened the competition with a wind-aided mark of 7.21 meters (23 feet 8 inches) and had another wind-aided jump of 7.67 meters (25 feet 2 inches) in the second round.
"The second jump gave me some momentum," Briscoe said. "I knew I had one more jump, and I was thinking that I am going to give it my all."
His jump measured a career-best 7.71 meters (25 feet 3.50 inches).
"It all just clicked," Briscoe said. "At first, it did not seem that far, but when I got up and started to walk off, I could feel (Coach Corbillion) walking with me in the coaches' box. When I saw 7.71 meters, I knew it was going to put pressure on everyone below me because I had been neck-and-neck with them, so I knew that I had solidified a spot."
As a result of that jump, Briscoe will be one of 24 competitors in the men's long jump at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 9-12 at Haywood Field in Eugene, Ore. He will begin jumping Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. (CT).
