How does a young man from Jamaica end up in Greeley, Colorado to run track at the University of Northern Colorado?
For Jerome Campbell, a 20-year-old sophomore hurdler and sprinter, the draw to UNC was Bears coach Wayne Angel.
Angel, 71, is a former hurdler and he’s coached college track and field about as long as Campbell has been alive. Angel’s background includes coaching a couple Olympians while at the University of Illinois, including one who went to the same high school as Campbell.
Campbell attended Calabar High School in Kingston. The school has a deep and long tradition of developing top-level Jamaican track and field athletes. One of those former Calabar athletes, Andrew Riley, ran for Angel at Illinois. Riley was a four-time NCAA champion, 12-time All American and competed in hurdles for Jamaica at the London Olympics in 2012.
“As a hurdler, thinking about the long term, you want to go with the right coach who can develop you, who won’t rush you to get where you need to be,” Campbell said. “He’ll work with you, he’ll work with you. He won’t be soft with you, but he’ll get you where you need to be. Coach Angel has always been that coach from what I’ve seen.”
In the short term, by the end of this week, where Campbell wants to be is scoring as many points for UNC as he can. Ideally, these points would come from victories in the 60 hurdles, and the 60 and 200 meters. Campbell and approximately 33 teammates travel Wednesday to Spokane, Washington for the three-day meet beginning Thursday.
Angel said the UNC men have a chance to be a top four team at the meet. The men’s team finished sixth out of 10 teams a year ago. The UNC women were ninth last year. Angel said they can move up a couple of spots this season.
Campbell, a team captain for UNC, goes into the meet as the top ranked athlete in the 60-meter hurdles and 200-meter run. He’s ranked second (6.78 seconds) in the 60 meters behind Kristian Phennicie of host Eastern Washington (6.74).
He won the Big Sky indoor title in the 60 hurdles last year and was the runner-up in the 60-meter dash. Campbell was later named Big Sky Conference indoor track freshman of the year.
The 60 hurdles is Campbell’s favorite and best event, though he said at 5-foot-10 he’s “very short” for a hurdler. He started track when he was about 10 years old. Campbell’s hurdles in those days were crates or whatever he and other young athletes could find to jump over.
He finished seventh in the event in the NCAA indoor championships last year. He ran a personal-best time of 7.58 seconds in the preliminaries, which gave him the second best time going into the finals. Campbell hit a hurdle during the finals and was slowed to a time of 7.99.
The hurdles are 42 inches high and Campbell is 70 inches tall, or 5-foot-10.
“You just can’t make mistakes,” Campbell said of competing in the event at 5-10. “You make a mistake and it costs you an entire race. Hurdlers, we have no fear. We can’t fear. If we have any doubt in our mind, the race is over before it even starts.”
This season, Campbell’s best time in the 60 hurdles is 7.70 seconds. His best time in the 200 is 21.42 seconds. He’s running now, about 10 months after having a knee operation for a torn anterior cruciate ligament that kept him out of the majority of the outdoor season in 2023.
Angel said Campbell can win a title in all three events. Campbell certainly has the talent to do that, according to the coach.
Another of Campbell’s goals at Big Sky is to run the qualifying standard in the 60 hurdles for the World Indoor Championships March 1-3 in Glasgow, Scotland. The qualifying time for worlds is 7.65 seconds, which Campbell ran at Big Sky indoor championships last year. He’s also recorded faster times in the event.
“He’s hungry,” Angel said. “He’s easy to coach and he listens well. He’s definitely committed and dedicated. He’s a no-nonsense guy.”
