Medford's Jaida Ross recently set the NCAA outdoor shot put record with a throw of 64 feet, 8 inches.

Jaida Ross has been no stranger to victories and breaking records, but her 2024 track and field season for the University of Oregon has been a breakthrough campaign already thanks to a women’s collegiate best in the shot put recently at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, California.

Ross, who competed for North Medford High and was a Logos Public Charter graduate, threw 64 feet, 8 inches on her third attempt to take the NCAA record on April 6. That effort broke the previous NCAA outdoor standard of 64.5.25 which was held by Adelaide Aquilla while at Ohio State. Ross also threw a personal record of 191-4 in the discus at the Triton Invitational.

That highlight effort also earned Ross the U.S Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Athlete of the Week two days later.

The performance has shown a fantastic progression for the junior after she placed second in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a toss of 60-7.25 back in March.

Ross has also given the Ducks both NCAA shot put records in the indoor and outdoor, with her former teammate and Olympian Jorinde Van Klinken setting the indoor record of 64-2.5 in 2023.

Along with it being a collegiate best and a personal best of 4 feet, Ross has put herself in prime position to win her first NCAA outdoor title with after placing fifth the last two seasons.

And after the collegiate season is over, Ross will be in the mix to potentially punch a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics in July with her current shot put mark being the fifth-best throw in the world rankings.

In the 2021 Olympic Trials, her NCAA record-breaking mark would have hypothetically placed third just behind Jessica Ramsey and Raven Saunders, which would have been enough to send her to Tokyo.

Ross competed this past Saturday at the Long Beach Invitational in California, throwing 184-5 in the discus for third place. 

With a past Rogue Valley athlete making waves in college, the present group of elite local high school track and field athletes will travel up north to the Oregon Relays in Eugene this weekend to face off against some of the best competition from around the west coast.

The Oregon Relays will take place at Hayward Field and be hosted over two days. The preliminary schedule has the first day starting at 10:30 a.m. Friday, and Saturday’s competition will begin at 10 a.m. in Eugene.