Jill W. Wise Smith (2001) - Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame

Jill W. Wise Smith

Induction:
2001
Class:
1989

Sport: Track and Field
Jill Wise Smith became the first Bucknell woman to compete in an NCAA Track and Field Championship when she qualified for the indoor meet in the triple jump in 1988. In addition, she competed in the outdoor TAC-USA Championships in Tampa, Fla., and the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis that year. The women's triple jump had not yet been recognized as an Olympic event, but it soon would be. Wise, who ranked in the top-10 in the country in the triple jump that season, won seven individual conference championships in long and triple jumps over the course of her great career, even though her senior year was cut short by a knee injury. Even more amazing, five of those titles included meet records. Wise held the indoor and outdoor triple and long jump school records when she graduated, and still held both triple jump marks by wide margins many year later. Her top indoor mark of 41 feet, 1 1/2 inches at the 1988 ECAC Championships set the school record by 17 inches, and it qualified her for the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City.
(Bucknell Hall of Fame Class of 2001)