Oregon’s Jaida Ross knew she was the NCAA Shot Put Champion when she stepped into the throwing circle for her final attempt.
But that didn’t stop Ross from looking to improve. She roared as she put up her best throw of the competition — 19.57 meters. It’s that sort of mentality that’s pushed Ross to new heights throughout her time with the Ducks.
“Not once before that last thrower threw before me did I see myself winning,” Ross said. “My mindset was that, ‘You’re behind and you need to throw farther,’ because I was expecting somebody to pop a throw and I’m not risking that. Every throw was trying to get farther.”
Ross got better throughout her Oregon career just like she did over the course of Thursday’s competition. Just two weeks prior, Ross broke the collegiate record at the NCAA West Preliminaries with a 20.01-meter throw. The all-time record for any American woman — collegiate or otherwise — is 20.76 meters.
Now, the fourth year will shift her attention to contending for a spot on the United States Olympic roster.
“[We’re] pushing my peak as late as we can so that we can make it good for this week and for trials. I think the peak is at the right time,” Ross said. “I had my last heavy lifts last week so the peak is coming and I’m just really excited for the next two weeks.”
Ross qualified for the NCAA discus in addition to the shot put. She ended in 14th place and off the podium, however, with much of her energy going into her “main event.” Ross still won the Pac-12 Championship in both the shot put and discus this season.
Saturday was Ross’ final time wearing the green and yellow. For an athlete from Medford, Oregon — a city a few hours south of Eugene — having the national meet in front of the home crowd seemed like a fitting end to her time with the Ducks.
“This means the world to me. I have my North Medford coaches here,” Ross said. “To [win the discus] in front of them is amazing. They just told me that the only other NCAA champion from North Medford was Dick Fosbury, so this is a pretty cool thing to have my name on.”
She said before the Championships that she anticipated 15 to 20 family members to be in attendance for both the shot put and the discus. The support from the Hayward crowd was palpable as she received loud ovations when she was introduced and again each time she recorded another throw.
The Ducks will miss one of their greatest point scorers with Ross graduating. Oregon head coach Jerry Schumacher admitted that the team will need “more Jaida Ross’ out there” next season as it looks to improve on its fourth-place NCAA finish.
But Ross’ leadership will be missed perhaps just as much as her throwing dominance.
“Her athletic accomplishments speak for themselves — what she is around our team and as a team leader, she leads everybody on the team,” Schumacher said. “I think a part that a lot of people don’t get to see on the athletic field is just really the quality person that she is.”
The NCAA Championships may have been Ross’ last time representing Oregon, but she has the opportunity to return to Hayward again in two weeks. Her 20.01-meter record-breaking throw is the fifth-best in the world this year — and her final shot put on Thursday is the ninth-best. If she gets anywhere near those numbers at the Olympic Trials, Ross may very well be on a plane to Paris in July.
