BATON ROUGE, La. | Southern University high jumpers Herman Batiste and Roman Smith will be waiting just a bit longer before summer break begins as they will be competing in this week's NCAA Division I East First Round in Jacksonville, Fla.
Smith and Batiste are the two lone Jaguars men's representatives.
Smith is ranked 19th in Division 1 and jumped 2.18m at the LSU Alumni Gold meet to qualify for the NCAA East First Round. He won the strawberry relays, has four top three finishes and finished in second place at the 2025 Southwestern Athlete Conference (SWAC) Men's and Women's Outdoor Championships on May 13.
Batiste, who has had a breakout freshman season, is ranked 94th in Division 1 and jumped 12.10m at the LSU Alumni Gold meet to qualify for the NCAA East First Round. He has three top five finishes including a top five finish at the 2025 Southwestern Athlete Conference (SWAC) Men's and Women's Outdoor Championships on May 13.
They both will begin their quest for an opportunity to the NCAA Outdoor Championships (Eugene, Ore.) on Friday afternoon at Jax Track at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida. The high jumps opening round begins at 3:30 p.m. (CT) and they would need to finish in within the top 12.
Smith and Batiste are among four from HBCUs and two from the SWAC competing in the event, including Randell Pompey (Florida A&M) and Paul Rowden (Florida A&M).
Georgia's Riyon Rankin and Ole Miss Arvesta Troupe have the two best jumps this season in the high jump, qualifying in 2.29m and 2.26m, respectively.
The 2025 NCAA East First Round begins on Wednesday (May 28) and concludes Saturday (May 31). Fans will have the opportunity to watch every event as the meet will be streamed on ESPN+.
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