In just five days time, the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will get underway at the historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

There are enough storylines to go around in all 42 events, but the jumps have some of the most intriguing matchups to watch. 

Here are three storylines in the jumps heading into the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

• NCAA Outdoor Coverage: Parker Valby, Nico Young Set To Star In Eugene
• NCAA Outdoor Coverage: These Sprint Athletes Should Sign
• The Arrival Of South Florida On The National Stage Has Been A Moonshot
• An In-Depth Interview With Houston Sprinter Louie Hinchliffe
• These Five NCAA Freshmen Will Impact The National Championship Team Race
• Our Final FloTrack/TFRRS Rankings Before NCAAs

Arkansas' Beckford Remains The Man To Beat In High Jump

A year ago, a trio of jumpers left the high jump field in the dust, as they were the only three men that were able to clear any height above 7 feet, 1 inch.

Next weekend, the lone returner out of the three is the defending outdoor high jump champion, Arkansas' Romaine Beckford, who has cleared 7-3.75 this spring. That mark is good enough for the No. 5 best jump this season. 

Of course, Beckford is wearing a different uniform in 2024. He won that NCAA title for South Florida a season ago. And in fact, he's won the last three high jump titles across seasons, including two with South Florida and his latest an indoor championship with Arkansas. 

However, the high jump isn't necessarily always focused on jumping high but being able to simply clear the bar and outlast the competition. 

There are three qualified athletes who find themselves ranked ahead of Beckford, including Tyus Wilson (Nebraska), Caleb Snowden (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) and Devin Loudermilk (Kansas). 

Wilson leads the country with his 7-6 clearance from Big 10s, while the other two have cleared 7-5.25 and 7-4.25, respectively. Despite their superior clearances, Beckford took down both Wilson and Loudermilk at the NCAA West Regionals, before calling it even with Snowden at 7-2.5. 

All-in-all, this is Beckford's title to lose. It's going to take a combination of high clearances and competition endurance to de-throne the king.

Double Gold A Real Possibility For Texas' Smith

Last June, Smith was nine-and-a-half inches shy of Florida's Jasmine Moore in the triple jump, with the Gator prevailing with a mark of 48 feet, 6 inches. 

This year, Moore isn't a threat because she's a professional. While that gives Smith a good lead-in, nothing is guaranteed. Her only loss in competition this outdoor season came earlier this month at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, as Alexis Brown (Baylor) and Sydney Willits (Iowa State) held off the 2023 outdoor champion. 

In less than a week, both women will be meeting Smith in Hayward

Just like the long, the triple jump will be equally as challenging, with Ruta Lasmane (Texas Tech) and Temitope Ojora (USC) both joining Smith as the only women with jumps of 45 feet or greater this season. At regionals, Smith left the pair in the dust, leaving Fayetteville with a wind-aided mark of 46-11.5 and a regional title. 

Arkansas' Pinnock, Miami's Robinson Both Eyeing Indoor/Outdoor Double

Next weekend, both Wayne Pinnock (Arkansas) and Russell Robinson (Miami) will each pursue the coveted double. 

Pinnock is no stranger to this scenario, winning both the indoor and outdoor long jump titles back in 2022 while competing for Tennessee. 

Robinson, on the other hand, is coming into a national championship with a target on his back for the first time in his career. 

For Pinnock, he hadn't lost at all in 2024 heading into regionals, but USC's Johnny Brackins put roughly a five-inch gap in between himself and the indoor champion. However, one lone loss in a meet that is simply focused on placing isn't changing the momentum in the event at nationals. 

Pinnock remains the man to beat, especially since he's the only one with a jump over 27 feet. It also helps that Pinnock is packed full of experience over the last two years.

Robinson, on the other hand, will more than have his work cut out for him, with guys like Brandon Green Jr. (Oklahoma), Jeremiah Davis (Florida State) and Sean Dixon-Bodie (Florida) all having superior marks this season. It's also important to know that all three men have each beat Robinson head-to-head at some point this outdoor season, with Green Jr. and Davis doing so in this event. 

Robinson still has a key advantage over the field, and that's his ability to step up on the championship level. 

A year ago he was the top guy behind two-time national champion Jaydon Hibbert. This past indoor season, he took down the entire country en route to his first NCAA title with a mark of 55-0.

FloTrack Will Be Live On The Ground In Eugene For NCAAs

Make sure to keep it locked on FloTrack throughout the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, as FloTrack will have in-depth coverage of the meet, including live and social media updates, interviews, commentary and more. 

Get More Track And XC News At MileSplit

Don't miss any high school track and field coverage throughout the season from our partners at MileSplit.

FloTrack Archived Footage

Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloTrack subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

Join The Track & Field Conversation On Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloTrack
• Follow us on Instagram @flotrack
• Follow us on TikTok @flotracktv
• Watch us on YouTube
• Like us on Facebook