Tylen Guidry is taking full advantage of his “last ride” with the Lamar University track and field program.
On Friday at the NCAA West Preliminaries in College Station, a clutch final attempt from the Cardinals’ senior triple jumper was just enough to ensure Guidry a spot at next month’s national championship event.
After his first two jumps didn’t go as planned, Guidry went 16.00 meters on his last try, good for 11th place overall. As a top-12 finisher, Guidry now qualifies for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.
“I had to put any nerves aside and just be myself,’ Guidry said. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but it all came together today at the end.”
Guidry was painfully close to competing at the 2020 indoor national championships last March, but the event was canceled because of coronavirus precautions. He and jumping coach Tyler Sunwall had gone through warmups before the last-minute decision was made.
Since then, Guidry’s goal was to reach the outdoor nationals this summer and finish what he started. Sunwall said coaching an experienced jumper like Guidry is simple, praising the senior’s work ethic and mind for jumping.
“At this point, I’m just trying not to crash the sports car,” Sunwall said of coaching Guidry. “It doesn’t take a lot of coaching with a guy like him.”
Guidry got off to a tough start Friday with a foul on his first jump. He then posted 15.43 meters on his second attempt before before the final jump put him into the all-important top 12.
“I’m just happy to be back in the position that we left off in last year,” Guidry said.
Guidry, a 2019 NCAA Indoor All-American, has had an illustrious career at Lamar. Friday marked his third trip to the NCAA West Preliminaries.
Other triple jump national qualifiers out of this year’s West Preliminary will come from Oregon, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Texas Christian and Southern California. Guidry takes pride in putting Lamar into that same conversation.
“Being in Beaumont, people overlook us sometimes,” Guidry said. “But we’ve got some talent here, too, at Lamar.”
The NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships will take place from June 9-12 on the University of Oregon’s campus. The men’s triple jump event is slated for June 11 at 7:20 p.m.
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