Tamiah Washington: From Utica’s Section III Record Books to the NCAA’s Biggest Stages

On a March evening in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in front of the most competitive field collegiate track and field has to offer, Tamiah Washington launched herself into the air at the Randal Tyson Track Center and covered 13.70 meters — 44 feet, 11.5 inches — to earn third place at the 2026 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. It was a bronze medal performance at the national championship meet, the latest chapter in a career that has been building steadily and impressively since Washington was setting records in Central New York high school gymnasiums years earlier.

Washington competes in the long jump and triple jump for Texas Tech University’s Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas. She is a junior ranked among the top 100 triple jumpers in the world. She is a Big 12 champion, a two-time NCAA finalist, an Opendorse NIL athlete, and a member of the Black Student Athlete Alliance at Texas Tech. And she is, as her hometown paper once called her, a Utica kid who has taken her talent — which was unmistakable from early on — and given it every opportunity to grow.

Growing Up in Utica: A Jumper Takes Shape

Tamiah Washington grew up in Utica, New York, the gritty mid-sized city in the Mohawk Valley of Central New York that has produced a notable number of Division I athletes over the years. She attended Thomas R. Proctor High School, the city’s storied public school that goes by “Proctor” locally and whose athletic programs have long competed in Section III of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.

Washington was born in 2004, and by the time she reached high school, she had already been competing in track and field for roughly seven years — meaning she began participating in the sport somewhere around middle school age. She has described triple jump as something that clicked for her early: it became “her thing” in middle school, and with every passing season she learned something new about it. “I feel like it is kind of my specialty,” she told the Rome Daily Sentinel in 2022. “I’ve learned something new about the event each year — better form, how to tweak it to get better results.”

She also has a sister who runs track. Raiyah Patterson — who competes in the long jump and 100 meters — was a teammate and training companion who qualified for the AAU Junior Olympics alongside Tamiah in 2022. The two sisters representing Utica at that level of competition in the same summer speaks to the kind of athletic household they grew up in.

Tamiah’s idol growing up was Allyson Felix — the most decorated American track and field athlete in Olympic history — and the choice says something about Washington’s self-image as a competitor. She wasn’t looking up to a jumper or a sprinter specifically. She was looking up to the greatest American track and field athlete there had ever been, full stop. “She’s been a great runner for years. She’s a great athlete and she’s been supporting Team USA forever. She’s a big inspiration for me,” Washington said.

High School Career: Section III Dominance

Washington’s high school career at Proctor was remarkable by any measure. She was coached by Jerry Tine, who became one of her most vocal advocates as she moved into the collegiate ranks. Under Tine’s guidance, Washington didn’t just win events — she redrew the Section III record books in both the long jump and triple jump.

In February 2022, at the Section III Class AA Indoor Championships, she put together one of the most dominant individual performances in recent Central New York high school history. Her triple jump measured 41 feet, 1 inch — shattering the Section III record previously held by Henninger’s Antonnikka Owens (40 feet, 5 inches) by more than half a foot, and finishing more than seven feet ahead of the second-place competitor in the event. She also won the long jump at that same meet. The Section III records she set during her high school career included the indoor triple jump (41-1), the indoor long jump (19-4), the outdoor triple jump (42-5¼), and the outdoor long jump (19-8½).

The outdoor long jump record — 19 feet, 8.5 inches — came with an asterisk worth noting. In June 2021, at a junior Olympics qualifier in New Jersey, Washington jumped 19 feet, 8.5 inches, which would have broken the Section III record. But because it occurred at an out-of-section meet, it didn’t count toward the official record. She arrived at her senior outdoor season understanding that the official record was hers to claim if she could reproduce the distance at a Section III-sanctioned event.

Her senior outdoor season in spring 2022 was the culmination of her high school journey. At the Tri-Valley League championships, Washington won four events in a single meet — the 200 meters (26.32), the 400 meters (1:00.77), the long jump, and the triple jump — on a day she described as good despite imperfect weather. She was ranked among the top athletes in the country in both jumps heading into the Section III championships. She wanted to win states in both events. “I really want to win states in both of the jumps just because I know it is possible,” she said. “I’m really confident going into the outdoors.”

She did exactly that. Washington won the New York State outdoor championship in both the long jump and the triple jump during her senior season at Proctor — a fitting exclamation point on a high school career that had made her one of the most accomplished jumpers Central New York had seen in a generation.

Choosing Texas Tech: The Big 12 Beckons

When it came time to choose a college, Washington signed her letter of intent with Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas — a Big 12 program with elite coaching, brand-new facilities, and a tradition of developing world-class track and field athletes. For a kid from Utica who had only been to Texas once before for a track meet, it was a significant leap in geography and competitive level. But Washington had visited the campus and the fit was immediate.

“Basically, they have great facilities and it is like brand new,” she said in May 2022. “They have great coaches. The coaches have made a name for themselves and they’ve coached great athletes. The head coach, especially, has done a lot for his team. I like the environment and the community. Everybody was really nice to me. I really feel like I fit in there.” When she announced her commitment, she heard from Lubbock residents she had never met — welcoming her to the community before she’d even set foot on campus as a student. That kind of reception, she said, confirmed the choice.

She arrived planning to study Kinesiology with a focus on sports medicine. Her long-term goal, as she framed it before leaving for college: reach her full potential in collegiate competition, and if the ceiling was high enough, pursue professional track and field after graduation.

She also has family in Austin, Texas — which meant that, for all the distance between Utica and Lubbock, she wasn’t quite arriving in a foreign country.

Freshman Year at Texas Tech (2022–23): Finding Her Footing

Washington arrived at Texas Tech for the fall of 2022 and began her collegiate career in the indoor season of 2022-23. The step up in competition from Section III high school meets to the Big 12 conference is significant, and her freshman season reflected the normal adjustment process. She opened the indoor season competing exclusively in triple jump, with early marks ranging from 11.61 meters at the Texas Tech Open to 12.31 meters at the TTU Matador Qualifier in February 2023 — her best indoor mark of the season.

The outdoor season saw her bring the long jump back into her arsenal alongside the triple jump, with a peak of 12.07 meters in the triple and 5.99 meters in the long jump — marks that reflected a jumper still calibrating to the demands of Division I Big 12 competition. But the foundation was clearly there. Her coaches knew it. Her high school coach Jerry Tine knew it. “We know the talent Tamiah has, and she works hard at it,” Tine said later, reflecting on her trajectory. “When you look at her progress, you expect things to happen.”

Sophomore Breakthrough (2023–24): Big 12 Competition Takes Shape

Washington’s sophomore year brought genuine progress on multiple fronts. Indoors in the winter of 2024, she started showing the long jump could be a second competitive weapon, clearing 6.18 meters at the Corky Classic in January 2024 — a significant indoor mark and the best of her collegiate career to that point. She followed that with a 6.00m at the DeLoss Dodds Invite and closed the Big 12 Indoor Championships with a 12th-place triple jump (12.45m) and a 14th-place long jump (5.83m). The Big 12 is one of the deepest conferences in the country for horizontal jumps; placing in the top 15 as a sophomore was meaningful progress.

Outdoors in spring 2024, she steadily built through the season. The triple jump peaked at 12.92 meters at the Masked Rider Open in March, then climbed to 12.67m at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational and 12.62m at the Corky/Crofoot Shootout. At the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship, she placed 10th in the triple jump with a 12.38-meter effort, and later qualified for the NCAA West First Round, where she posted 13.04 meters in the triple jump — the first time she had crossed the 13-meter barrier in outdoor competition. It was a genuinely significant threshold, and it came right when it mattered most: at the postseason.

Junior Year, Part One: The Indoor Season That Changed Everything (2024–25)

Washington’s junior indoor season was a revelation. She came in with momentum and built on it meet by meet in a way that ultimately placed her among the best collegiate triple jumpers in the country.

She opened the 2025 indoor campaign with back-to-back solid efforts, then won the 16-team New Mexico Collegiate Classic in early February with a mark of 13.34 meters. That win gave her confidence heading into the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Lubbock — on her home track, in front of the Texas Tech crowd.

At the Big 12 indoors, Washington won the triple jump title with a 13.50-meter effort, helping Texas Tech’s Red Raiders capture their first-ever Big 12 team championship. The moment was significant not only personally but in the context of the program she had chosen — she was part of the class that helped push Texas Tech to the top of the conference.

Then came the NCAA Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Heading into the final, Washington was not the favorite. What unfolded was one of the most memorable performances of her collegiate career. On what she described as a culminating jump, Washington launched 13.72 meters — 45 feet, 0.25 inches — matching the mark of eventual champion Agur Dwol of Oklahoma. The difference between gold and silver came down to a tiebreaker: Dwol’s second-best jump was one centimeter longer. One centimeter. About a quarter of an inch. Washington finished as the NCAA Division I indoor runner-up in the triple jump, and the 13.72m effort stood as her personal best.

“We know the talent Tamiah has, and she works hard at it,” said Proctor coach Jerry Tine, who was following her career from Utica. “But this has been a huge progression for her, and she’s not at the end of her rope. It’s awesome to see.”

The 13.72m mark also established Washington on the World Athletics database. It now stands as her official personal best in the triple jump — ranked among the top 100 triple jumpers in the world — and carries a World Athletics score of 1089 points.

Junior Year, Part Two: The Outdoor Season (Spring 2025)

The outdoor season of 2025 tested Washington in ways the indoor season had not. She opened slowly, logging 12.64 meters in adverse conditions at the Mt. SAC Relays in April, before bouncing back with 13.15m at the Texas Tech home meet and a new outdoor personal best of 6.13 meters in the long jump at the Texas A&M 44 Farms Team Invitational.

The season peaked at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where she placed second in the triple jump with a 13.63-meter effort — matching her outdoor personal best from that meet’s conditions — while also competing in the long jump. She qualified again for the NCAA postseason, advancing through the West First Round with a 13.54-meter jump, and reached the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where she placed 10th in the triple jump final with a mark of 13.06 meters.

Two NCAA championship appearances in the same academic year — runner-up indoors, top-10 outdoors — represented a genuinely accomplished junior season by any standard.

Senior Indoor Season (2025–26): Continuing to Climb

Washington returned for her senior year with a new dimension to her game. While the triple jump had always been her signature, the long jump began to emerge as a genuine second weapon in the 2025-26 indoor campaign, and the results showed it.

She opened the indoor season at the Corky Classic with a 6.32-meter long jump and 13.24-meter triple jump, both competitive efforts. The long jump in particular continued to develop: at the Stan Scott Invite she won with a 6.10m leap, and she hit 6.11m at the Jarvis Scott Invitational in February.

At the 2026 Big 12 Indoor Championships — again at Texas Tech’s Sports Performance Center — Washington placed second in the triple jump (13.62m) and fourth in the long jump with a personal best of 6.34 meters (20 feet, 9.75 inches). The long jump result is her career collegiate best in the event and her World Athletics personal best, recorded February 27, 2026, in Lubbock. Her World Athletics ranking in the long jump stands at 266th in the world, reflecting real international standing in a second discipline.

At the 2026 NCAA Indoor Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas — two days after this article’s research date — Washington placed third in the triple jump with a mark of 13.70 meters (44 feet, 11.5 inches). Kansas State’s Daniela Wamokpego won with 13.84m, Clemson’s Shantae Foreman was second with 13.80m, and Washington’s 13.70m earned the bronze. It was her second consecutive NCAA indoor medal — silver in 2025, bronze in 2026 — from the same event, confirming that she belongs at the very top of the collegiate landscape in the triple jump.

Texas Tech finished 10th in the women’s team standings at those same championships, with Washington’s points as a meaningful contribution to that placing.

World Athletics Profile and Rankings

Tamiah Washington holds a World Athletics athlete code of 14992278 and is listed as born in 2004, representing the United States. Her current world rankings are No. 91 in the women’s triple jump and No. 266 in the women’s long jump. Her personal bests are as follows:

• Triple Jump: 13.72m (45′ 0.25″) — March 15, 2025, NCAA Indoor Championships, Virginia Beach, VA (World Athletics score: 1089)
• Long Jump (indoor): 6.34m (20′ 9.75″) — February 27, 2026, Big 12 Championships, Lubbock, TX (World Athletics score: 1073; marked as indoor, not eligible for world record purposes)
• Long Jump (outdoor): 6.13m (20′ 1.5″) — April 11–12, 2025, Texas A&M 44 Farms Team Invitational

A world ranking of 91st in the triple jump as a college junior represents genuine international standing. The event at the Olympic level regularly features athletes in the 14.50–15.00 meter range at the very top, but the gap between world-ranked No. 91 and All-American collegiate competition is meaningfully smaller than it might appear. Washington is, in other words, not just a dominant college jumper — she is someone who belongs in the broader conversation about the event at the national and emerging international level.

On Campus: Academics and Community

Washington is majoring in Kinesiology at Texas Tech with a focus on sports medicine — a track she laid out before leaving Utica and has pursued throughout her time in Lubbock. The combination of Kinesiology and sport medicine reflects both her intellectual interests and her obvious deep engagement with the physical mechanics of her events: an athlete who thinks carefully about form, technique, and continuous improvement is a natural fit for a field that studies how the human body moves.

She is an active member of the Black Student Athlete Alliance at Texas Tech, a campus organization that creates community among Black student-athletes while advocating for their academic and athletic interests. It’s a commitment that extends her identity as an athlete into the broader campus community, and it reflects an awareness of the kind of presence she can have beyond just the jumping pit.

NIL and Commercial Activity

Washington participates in NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) activities through Opendorse, the athlete-facing NIL marketplace platform. Her Opendorse profile identifies her as a jumps specialist and Kinesiology major at Texas Tech, and is listed as an active profile for brand partnership opportunities. As of early 2026, she has been available through the platform for social media posts, shoutouts, autographs, and similar activations.

No broader apparel or footwear sponsorship arrangements have been publicly confirmed. Texas Tech’s track and field program competes in adidas gear, and Washington’s competitive attire follows the program’s standard equipment arrangement.

Her Coach’s Assessment

The voice of Jerry Tine — Washington’s coach at Thomas R. Proctor High School in Utica — has followed her career as a kind of external measure of her progress. After her near-miss at the 2025 NCAA indoor championships, Tine offered a perspective that felt exactly right: “We know the talent Tamiah has, and she works hard at it. When you look at her progress, you expect things to happen. But this has been a huge progression for her, and she’s not at the end of her rope. It’s awesome to see.”

That last phrase — not at the end of her rope — is the key one. After a silver medal at the 2025 NCAA indoors, a Big 12 outdoor silver, a top-10 NCAA outdoor finish, a long jump personal best at the 2026 Big 12 Championships, and a bronze at the 2026 NCAA indoors, Washington is heading into her senior outdoor season with more upside still visible. The Utica City School District, which recognized her Big 12 championship win in February 2025, called her a testament to “hard work, perseverance, and dedication.”

Looking Ahead: The Outdoor Season and Beyond

The 2026 outdoor season is Washington’s final NCAA outdoor campaign as a traditional four-year senior. She enters it with career bests of 13.72 meters in the triple jump and 6.13 meters in the long jump outdoors, a world ranking of 91st in the triple jump, and the experience of competing — and medaling — at the NCAA championship level twice in the same event.

Her stated goal going into college was to reach her full potential and see where that potential led. The trajectory she has built — Section III record-holder, New York State outdoor champion, Big 12 champion, two-time NCAA finalist and medalist, world-ranked athlete — suggests the ceiling remains where it has always been: high enough to be worth pursuing.

The outdoor season will bring competition at major invitationals, the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, and the NCAA postseason. If the indoor season of 2025-26 is any guide — a 6.34m long jump personal best and a 13.70m triple jump bronze at nationals — Washington’s best work may still be ahead of her.

Utica is watching.

Social Media

Tamiah Washington maintains an active NIL presence through her Opendorse profile. She can be followed and found through Texas Tech University’s official track and field social media channels at @TexasTechTF on X (Twitter) and through the university’s official athletics accounts.