By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
There are the Olympics and then there are the World Athletics Championships. Both feature the planet's top track and field athletes. Last July, Sterling-native Tyus Wilson fulfilled one part of qualifying for the Paris Olmypics: finishing in the top-three at the USA Track and Field Championships (USATF) in Oregon. But he failed to meet the Olympic standard and therefore did not go to Paris.
Sunday, back in the confines of the University of Oregon's Hayward Field, Wilson won his first national title. It remains to be seen whether he can compete in the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo.
Wilson, ranked No. 40 in the world, entered this year's national championships as the No. 3 seed with a best jump of 2.29m (7-6) this year. Wilson needed three attempts to clear the bar at 7-5.25 Sunday, but he proved to be the lone competitor to clear the bar at that height, beating the likes of Shelby McEwen and JuVaughn Harrison. As with Paris, to compete in Tokyo, athletes must have cleared 2.33m (7-7.75) this season to qualify.
Wilson won three state titles while at Sterling. He missed a potential sweep with the COVID-19 year. Wilson set state meet records and wowed crowds at the Ellinwood Invitational during his high school career. His 2.29 clearance in May earned him a Big 10 championship.
The World Championships will be held in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21. The 2020 Summer Olympics were held in Toyko but without much of the usual fanfare because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pitt State alum Cordell Tinch, one of the top hurdlers in the world this year, lost the lean to finish second in the 110s by 0.02s in 13.03, well ahead of the 13.27 qualifying standard. Hunter Jones, a former Nickerson High standout and two-time national champion at Pitt State, finished 11th in the decathlon.