Damarcus Simpson prepping for Belarus

Former Lafayette state long jump champ ‘focused’ on 2020 Olympic Trials

About a year into his career as professional track and field athlete, Damarcus Simpson says the grind can be difficult.

“It’s definitely harder than I thought,” said the former Lafayette High School state long jump champion (2011) from his current home in Eugene, Oregon. “You’re always fighting for the spotlight.”

Simpson enjoyed two outstanding seasons at Chadron State in Nebraska. He was a two-time NCAA Division II outdoor national champion and a two-time indoor runner-up in his signature event, while also collecting a win at the prestigious Penn Relays. He transferred to the University of Oregon in time for the 2017 season and promptly broke the Ducks’ 12-year indoor record with a meet-winning leap of 8.01 meters (26-feet, 3.5-inches) on his very first jump with the program.

He went on to win the Pac12 outdoor title in the event later that year and again in 2018. A three-time AllAmerican who also competed as a sprinter – Simpson was part of Oregon’s 4x100 meter relay Pac-12 outdoor championship team in 2017 — he was named the conference’s Men’s Field Athlete of the Year in 2018.

After qualifying for the finals and placing eighth at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, Simpson went on to finish third at the U.S. Track and Field Outdoor Championships in 2017 and took fourth last year.

This past weekend, Simpson competed in the 2019 U.S. Championships in Des Moines, Iowa and, despite dealing with a nagging hamstring injury, he was able to jump 7.87 meters (2510), good enough for eighth overall.

However, prior to the U.S. Championships, Simpson jumped 8.15 meters (26-8) in Atlanta on June 21. That jump, a World Top 25 mark, was good enough to earn himself an invitation to be part of the Europe vs. USA meet in Minsk, Belarus in early September.

“I’m a little excited,” he said of the trip overseas. “I’ve been fighting with this hamstring lately, so I’m glad they invited me. I’m planning on taking a week off and getting back to it. I just want to give my hamstring a little bit of a rest.”

Simpson said his energies for the next 12 months would all be geared towards the U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held in Eugene in July 2020, where he hopes to qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan later next summer.

“I’m really focusing everything this year on (the Trials),” he explained. “I’ve already set my (qualifying) mark for the Trials, so I just have to get prepared. I’m actually as healthy as I’ve ever been with my knee and I’m watching the track get built every day, so I feel like that will be an advantage for me.

Contributed The Lightfoot Club of Chattanooga, along with the Nashville Maroons, salute the crowd during an early season vintage base ball match at the polo fields in Fort Oglethorpe. The Lightfoot Club and the Maroons are part of the 12-team Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball, which plays by the rules, customs, equipment and uniforms of the 1860’s. The Lightfoot Club will play its final two regular season matches of the 2019 season this Saturday, Aug. 10. at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., while Chattanooga’s other vintage base ball team, the Mountain City Club, will take the field at 3 p.m. Admission to the matches and to the 6th Cavalry Museum are free, as is parking. Spectators are asked to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets as there is no bleacher seating. For more information about this event, visit www.6thcavalrymuseum.org or www.tennesseevintagebaseball.com.

Eric Evans, Goducks.com Former Lafayette state long jump champion Damarcus Simpson recently placed eighth at the 2019 U.S. Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Simpson will next compete in the Europe vs. USA meet in Minsk, Belarus in September as he continues to work toward the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials next July.