BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — On average, most men and women can jump between one and two feet, but for one athlete, he can jump seven times that.

The six-foot-two Southern University high jumper, Roman Smith, breaks his record of seven-foot-one, landing himself a spot at the NCAA Outdoor National Championship in Oregon.

“I kind of gravitated towards track when I realized how effortlessly easy it was for me,” said Smith.

Smith said his love for both track and basketball helped him outperform his peers. 

“I was high jumping indoors on a basketball court with the mat on the inside, and I just became a natural at it,” said Smith.

Coming out of Regionals ranked third in the nation, the track star said this season forced him to overcome the physical and mental challenges.

“That was something that I worked on mid-season was being confident, even though my body is telling me that I’m not confident or I just don’t feel confident, just be confident. If you’ve got to fake it, fake it,” said Smith.

His strategy for doing so is taking it one step at a time.

“I like to not think about anything at all, like completely clear my brain because I am a overthinker and a and what tends to happen when I overthink is I think too much and I try to focus on too many things at one time and it makes it hard for me,” said Smith.

Although track and field is a team sport, high jumping is an individual-based event. Smith said he relies on his motto, “Don’t think, just jump,” to get him over the bar.

“In basketball, you can rely on other people when you have bad days. But when you rely on yourself, the only person that you have to hold accountable is yourself,” said Smith.

For Smith, resilience goes a long way, especially being able to bounce back after a tough meet.

“Being disciplined is a major part of being able to do this sport by yourself,” said Smith.

Not only is the projected fall 2026 graduate setting records, but Smith is working toward another major accomplishment.

“So I chose engineering because I like hands-on things. I don’t like to sit down for too long or sit at a desk and just sit. I like a challenge, and that’s what high jump is for me as well,” said Smith.

As Smith packs his bags for Oregon, his strategy is riding the consistency wave to nationals. In hopes that his effort in practice pays off, bringing home the championship title.

“My main thing is just to prove not only to myself, because I feel like this season I proved to myself that I can, but I want to prove to the world that I am one of the best jumpers in the nation,” said Smith.

The NCAA outdoor championships will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, from June 11-14.

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