Connecticut College junior is national triple jump champion
Alex Samma '10 covered a distance of 49 feet, 5 ½ inches - or about three and a half Toyota Priuses - to win the NCAA Division III Triple Jump Championship March 15. He is the first Connecticut College student-athlete to earn a national champion title since 2004.
"My goal was to finish in the top eight and better my mark," Samma said. "I had hurt my hamstring two weeks before the meet. The trainers took care of me at the College and here at nationals. Everything just went well today."
Samma shattered his previous school mark by 9 ¼ inches, and beat his closest competitor at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship in Terre Haute, Ind., by a foot. He is the first NCAA Champion for the Connecticut College track and field program. Connecticut College Athletic Hall of Fame Member Dave Barron '94 was the runner up in the weight throw at the 1994 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship.
Samma, a junior from Burkina Faso, is majoring in biochemistry at Connecticut College. He qualified for nationals by winning the New England Division III Championship at MIT on Feb. 21.
Complete results from the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship are available at this link.
March 16, 2009
