FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Middle Tennessee's Stanley Gbagbeke placed second out of 12 competitors Thursday to earn All-America honors in the men's long jump for the Blue Raiders' only performance of the day at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
He registered a career-best distance of 26-3 (8.00m) to finish just short of event winner, Florida State's Ngonidzashe Makusha. Makusha won the crown with a leap of 26-7.25 (8.11m).
Gbagbeke edged third-place Nicholas Gordon of Nebraska by one-quarter inch or one one-thousands of a meter.
The Nigeria native earned a spot in the finals after leaping to a mark of 25-6.75 (7.79m) during Wednesday's qualifying round.
By placing second, Gbagbeke garnered eight team points for the Blue Raiders. The top eight performers in each event automatically are tabbed All-Americans.
Middle Tennessee will continue to be represented at the national meet this week when junior Sarah Nambawa and senior Carl Morgan participate in the women's and men's triple jump preliminaries, respectively, Friday afternoon. Nambawa is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. followed by Morgan at 4:30 p.m.
Complete Blue Raider results will be available on goblueraiders.com and ncaa.com.
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