Jaydon Hibbert third Razorback men’s finalist for The Bowerman

NEW ORLEANS – Razorback freshman Jaydon Hibbert is one of three men finalists selected for The Bowerman, as announced by USTFCCCA on Tuesday. Hibbert becomes the third Razorback male to be a finalist for the annual award.

The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female NCAA track & field athletes in the nation. Also named as a men’s 2023 finalist were decathletes Leo Neugebauer of Texas and Kyle Garland of Texas.

“What a great honor for Jaydon and the University,” stated Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “He had a great season this year and did a phenomenal job. I’m just really proud of how he came into a new system, new way of life, following our collegiate way of doing things, and accomplished a lot of goals this year.”

Previous Arkansas finalists for the men’s Bowerman included Jarrion Lawson, who won in 2016, along with Ayden Owens-Delerme in 2022, with Florida State’s Trey Cunningham winning the honor.

The Bowerman fan vote starts today at 3 p.m. (CT) at this link: https://www.ustfccca.org/the-bowerman/the-bowerman-fan-vote.

“The Bowerman is the pinnacle of what we do in track and field,” noted Arkansas men’s associate head coach Travis Geopfert. “To have the season that he has had, he is obviously very deserving of the honor. We’re all extremely happy for him and excited for the rest of the summer as well.”

Hibbert is just the fourth freshman to become a men’s finalist, following Oregon’s Edward Cheserek (2014), Texas A&M’s Donavan Brazier (2016), and Mondo Duplantis of LSU (2019).

A freshman, though, has yet to win The Bowerman. In the previous years when a freshman was among the finalists, the award went to Deon Lendore of Texas A&M (2014), Jarrion Lawson (2016), and Grant Holloway of Florida (2019).

An undefeated season in the triple jump along with a pair of collegiate records which broke marks set in the 1980s highlighted Hibbert’s debut season with the Razorbacks. He became just the fourth freshman to ever win the NCAA Outdoor triple jump, and only the second freshman to sweep both NCAA titles in the same season.

Track & Field News magazine named Hibbert it’s Collegiate Outdoor Athlete of the Year. Previous Razorbacks to claim the honor include Lawson (2016), Alistair Craig (2004), Daniel Lincoln (2003), and Robert Howard (1997).

Along the way Hibbert swept SEC and NCAA titles for the indoor and outdoor seasons, earning SEC Field Athlete of the Year, SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year, and National Field Athlete of the Year accolades outdoors. Indoors, Hibbert was named SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year and South Central Field Athlete of the Year, an honor he claimed outdoors as well.

“The thing that’s been really impressive for me as a head coach is watching Travis and Jaydon navigate the whole year,” Bucknam said. “What a great job both of them have done. Jaydon is an incredibly coachable person, and he has great trust in Travis.

“They had a plan from the very beginning. I heard it, knew what was going down, and let them execute it. That’s why we call him 1Hibby, because he takes one or two jumps and gets it done. We’re playing the long game with Jaydon as far as his future, so we’re working on doing the right thing for him going forward long term, such as saving as many jumps as we can for the future.”

Entering Arkansas with a 2022 World U20 title and championship record of 56-8 (17.27), Hibbert expanded the horizon of his talents with an economy of attempts during a campaign that saw the 18-year-old grow a couple of inches in the process, now measuring 5-11 (1.80).

“One of the challenges of a young athlete is how you handle success,” Geopfert added. “He’s just done a tremendous job of that while compartmentalizing, focusing on the process, and moving on to the next goal.

“Jaydon’s not too terribly focused on the results, he’s letting the result come because of the hard work, great attitude, and the effort he’s put in. He’s a great kid with a great attitude and has all the intangibles. It’s a lot of fun to see his hard work rewarded.”

Improvements for Hibbert were achieved in feet instead of inches in the technical event he is quickly mastering.

Following a pair of short approach jumps each in New Mexico and at the Tyson facility during the SEC Indoor Championships, Hibbert completed his debut season indoors by winning the NCAA Indoor title on his first attempt, which measured 57-6.5 (17.54).

Hibbert broke the collegiate record of 57-1 (17.40) set by Razorback Mike Conley back in 1985. His indoor season was completed with five attempts in three meets while adding nearly a foot to his previous career best mark from outdoors.

Prior to starting the outdoor collegiate season, Hibbert defended his title at the CARIFTA Games in the Bahamas, taking a full allotment of six attempts, again on very short approaches.

His outdoor collegiate season began at the LSU Invitational, where one leap of 56-4 (17.17) provided the winning distance and came within four inches of his outdoor best.

Hibbert returned to Baton Rouge for the SEC Outdoor Championships and his second attempt established history as he broke the collegiate record with an astounding 58-7.5 (17.87), adding nearly a foot to the previous record of 57-7.75 (17.57) set at altitude in 1982 by SMU’s Keith Connor.

The youngest to ever jump that far, Hibbert currently equals No. 13 on the all-time world list, sharing the position with Conley’s best mark as a professional.

A first leap of 57-7.5 (17.56) among four attempts by Hibbert at the NCAA Championships in Austin fell a quarter-inch short of the meet record Connor set in 1982 when establishing the collegiate record, but he did set the low-altitude meet record.

Outside of the six attempts in the Bahamas, Hibbert’s outdoor collegiate season included eight attempts in four meets.

“I really appreciate him in trusting the game plan,” Geopfert said. “We knew we wanted to limit his competitions and limit his total number of jumps because of the long season that was potentially ahead. It’s worked out well.

“Also, the fact that he is young. The triple jump is a difficult event on your body, and I think it’s important we keep a bigger picture in mind for these young athletes. I appreciate him buying in from the very beginning and then executing the plan almost to perfection.

“He’s done a fantastic job. When you’re in the moment you probably don’t realize everything that’s going on. But then you look at the things he’s achieved at such a young age it’s just remarkable.”

The impressive marks by Hibbert had him topping an incredible list of marks previously set by Arkansas jumpers. It’s a list that can be daunting for those considering joining the Razorback program.

“Over the years we’ve probably had some recruits in here who have looked at our history of marks in the jumps and thought I’ll never break a school record here I’m going to go somewhere else,” stated Bucknam.

“That’s not how Jaydon handled it. He looked at is as a bar to shoot for and he surpassed it. Again, his competitiveness, the way he listens and executes, we’re really proud and happy for him.”