Penn Relays: Roschell Clayton Wins Collegiate Women's High ...

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—On her final attempt at a height of 1.83 meters and with a championship in sight, Villanova senior Roschell Clayton (Montego Bay, Jamaica) soared over the bar with room to spare and won the collegiate women's high jump championship at the 128th Penn Relays Carnival at Franklin Field early Saturday afternoon. In windy and difficult conditions for a high jump competition, Clayton recorded three successful jumps to emerge as the champion from a field of 10 competitors. Clayton becomes the third Villanova athlete to win an individual championship in a collegiate women's event at the Penn Relays. She joins Carole Zajac who was a two-time winner in the 10000 meters (1992, 1994) and Jen Pastore who was the 1996 javelin champion and the Wildcats only previous women's field athlete to capture a Penn Relays title. Clayton's title is the 48th all-time in a championship section for the Villanova women including individual events and Championship of America relays. The performance by Clayton is the latest in a prolonged stretch which has been the most successful of her career. It started during the 2023 outdoor season when Clayton qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time and went on to garner her first career All-America honor. She reached new heights during the 2024 indoor season, setting a school record of 1.88 meters and earning first team All-America accolades with a tie for sixth place at the NCAA Championships. She entered this weekend already the BIG EAST leader and tied for third on the East region performance list this outdoor season. Despite the conditions at Franklin Field on Saturday, the competition was a good one which came down to a trio that included Clayton along with Brianna Collins from Duke and Amaya Ugarte from Ohio State. Each of the three athletes had cleared the bar at 1.75 meters on their first try. The next bar raise was to 1.79 meters, where Smith made it over on her first attempt and Ugarte on her second jump. Clayton needed all three jumps at 1.79 meters, putting the standings at Smith-Ugarte-Clayton at the subsequent bar raise. Smith jumped first at 1.83 meters, with Ugarte second and Clayton third. They all missed their first two attempts, followed by Smith and Ugarte missing on their third tries at the height. So it came down to Clayton controlling her own destiny on the decisive jump, either a successful clearance which would make her the champion or a miss which would keep her in third place. The winning jump left no doubt, although Clayton was business-as-usual as she hopped off the mat before finally exhaling with a big smile crossing her face as her coaches and teammate Malaika Cunningham (St. Andrew, Jamaica) nodded in approval to confirm her winning jump. Cunningham herself qualified for the championship section of the high jump and wound up seventh in the competition. It was all smiles for Clayton just moments later when she stepped onto the awards podium to be presented with her first Penn Relays watch. A lot of season remains for Clayton, who will now prepare for the BIG EAST Championships being hosted by Villanova next month as well as for NCAA regional and national competition in the weeks to follow.