The USF athletic department held a Tuesday celebration for Romaine Beckford, who became one of the program's luminaries last weekend when he captured a high-jump national title at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

What's a big-time celebration without cake? Of course, everyone had some.

Everyone, that is, except Beckford.

"He's a pretty disciplined kid,'' Bulls coach Erik Jenkins said.

Now he's an athlete who will be remembered around USF for all time.

Beckford, 20, soared to 7 feet, 4 1/4 inches, flawlessly executing his jumps at three ascending heights and outdistancing his University of Oklahoma rival, Vernon Turner, in the NCAA indoor event at Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Last season, Beckford captured high-jump titles at the Penn Relays, along with the American Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor championships. Now, after repeating at the AAC indoors, he earned his most prestigious honor.

And he's not done yet.

"It means a lot because I like being the man on the spot and I like making history,'' said Beckford, a native of Jamaica who became USF's first track-and-field national champion in three decades (Jon Dennis won the 5,000-meters title in 1992 and 1993).

"It's a very big deal to do it for USF, for my high school and for my hometown. I would rather have a personal best (Beckford has jumped 7-5), but when you're going for a championship, you go for the win. I love to be under pressure because that's usually when I do my best. This is just another accomplishment for me and it's going to allow me to believe in myself more and put in more work to accomplish bigger goals in the future.''

Beckford, who won the 2021 junior-college high-jump national title at South Plains Community College, now turns his attention to the outdoor season and he would love to win another national title in his event. After that, he wants to represent Jamaica in the World Championships and he's 7 centimeters away from meeting the qualifying standard.

"It doesn't seem like a lot,'' said Beckford, holding his thumb and index finger apart to simulate the minuscule distance, "but even a little bit is a lot in an event like the high jump.''

Jenkins has learned not to temper his expectations when it comes to Beckford's ability. "The sky's the limit for him,'' Jenkins said before the season. Sure enough, Beckford is seemingly up in the clouds.

"I'm extremely excited for Romaine and it's great for him, our program and anyone who is looking to join our program at USF, so it means a lot,'' Jenkins said. "He's my first national champion. It's a very, very high standard, especially indoors, because it's hard to make the NCAA indoor championships.

"He's not even 21 years old, but he's going to graduate with his degree in the spring. We're going to be even prouder of him then. He'll be 'Romaine Beckford, graduate of USF … who was also the NCAA champion, the AAC champion and the school record-holder.' He has set the platform for other student-athletes to come here and get a quality education in a great city and help us build this program to whatever it can be.''

Next up for Beckford: Taking down Jimmy Baxter's nearly 20-year-old USF outdoor high-jump record of 7-5 that was set in 2004. Baxter, whose daughter, Jadaja, competes for the USF's women's track and field team, finished third in the NCAA Outdoor Championships but never competed indoors because he also played basketball for the Bulls.

"I've coached more than 50 years and I've never seen a more consistent jumper,'' USF assistant coach Don Marsh said. "We've had a number of good high-jumpers, but never one of his caliber. He likes to be in meets where there's someone better than him — or at least his equal. That doesn't bother him at all. It brings out the competitor in him. He trains hard and wants to be the best he can be.''

Beckford weighed about 225 pounds in junior college, when he admittedly ate poorly and was a regular at the drive-thru windows. He reduced to about 200 pounds last season. Now, while mostly cooking his own meals, he's at 186.

With that kind of diet and dedication, is there any doubt that Beckford will be among the high-jumpers to beat during the outdoor season?

That's a piece of cake.

– Go Bulls –