Tyson Adams took home All-American honors after competing in the NCAA Track and Field Championship.

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By Jay Spivey 

For the Clemmons Courier

Although just a redshirt freshman, Tyson Adams of N.C. State has accomplished quite a bit in his short career in college track and field. 

Adams, a 2023 graduate of West Forsyth, just competed in the men’s long jump last week in Eugene, Oregon, at the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships. 

Not only did he compete, but Adams finished sixth with a jump of 25 feet, 7 1/2 inches or 7.81 meters last Wednesday night, good enough for All-American honors. According to gopack.com, Adams is the fourth athlete from N.C. State to achieve All-American status in the long jump.  

That capped off a season in which Adams won the ACC indoor championship in the long jump in addition to the ACC outdoor championship, which was held last month at Wake Forest.

“I didn’t really know what I was getting into because I had never been (to Eugene) before,” Adams said. “But walking out onto the track it felt really good because you’re at a big, huge stadium with a bunch of people watching. And then there’s also a bunch of people watching online on ESPN.”

Finishing sixth, especially as a redshirt freshman, is no small feat. Senior Malcolm Jenkins from Florida won the long jump at 26-4 1/2 inches (8.04 meters).

“I feel like I did pretty good,” Adams said. “It’s not exactly what I wanted, but I’m OK with it because, like I said, my first practice was when I got back to school. I was out for eight months not doing anything. I was literally sitting in my room all day. I did a little bit of rehab, but there was no weightlifting or running involved.

“I felt really good with sixth place. You don’t ever want to lose, but sixth was fine, and especially it gives me All-American status. Not everyone even gets to come here, so placing sixth is pretty nice.”

Faring so well at the NCAA championship was in stark contrast to last year, after Adams endured a serious injury on his first jump as a collegiate athlete. The injury goes back to his true freshman year at N.C. State in Adams’ first indoor meet last year at Virginia Tech. 

“My freshman year I tore my adductor,” Adams said. “It was at the first meet in my very first jump of the (indoor) season last year. I tore my adductor. They call it a sports hernia, but it’s not like a regular hernia. I had to get surgery right after, it was maybe a month after the meet, or a few weeks after the track meet that I got surgery.” 

It was a lengthy rehab after the surgery. He missed the remainder of the indoor season and all of the spring season as a true freshman.

“My very first practice back to where I was able to lift and run was when we first got back to school that year,” Adams said. “My first practice back was in August.” 

Needless to say, going through a long rehab made for a miserable experience. 

“I did not enjoy being injured,” Adams said. “I was out for such a long time watching all of my teammates get to compete, go everywhere. I had to stay in the rehab and recovery room every single day. I went and watched them practice, but that kind of just made it worse.  

“It would make me want to go out and practice so much more. I thought that I would maybe be back by the outdoor season, but that didn’t happen. I was not able to compete because it was still in the rehabilitation stage. It wasn’t a fun time for me.” 

Like with many other hardships, Adams had to endure the good days and the bad days. 

“The surgery went great,” Adams said. “I was doing fine. But I could still feel a little bit now even after all of the rehabs. I know it was very necessary to go through how long I went through.

“Mentally, it was pretty bad on the mental state. But it wasn’t terrible because I knew when I got back that I would be fine. I would still be good to compete and everything. But it wasn’t more of me doubting myself when I got back. It was more just me wanting to get back so much faster than I was able to get back.” 

A comfort level eventually overtook Adams once he was able to practice and compete. 

“I was fine,” he said. “My roommate (Elijah Dawes) was also injured last year, so we were both injured and we both didn’t get to compete all of last year.” 

Having gone through the rehab with a teammate, and roommate in this case, proved to be an interesting experience.

“We were put in a handicapped room as well,” Adams said. “It was a cursed room.” 

The whole thing was disappointing for Adams and Dawes.

“We both were really excited to compete, and it was just really annoying for both of us,” Adams said. “But I mean we go through it together. He was able to compete indoor this year and he did really well. And outdoor, he did really well at our first few meets. And then he got hurt again in outdoor, so he was out for the season for outdoor after Raleigh Relays.” 

Despite the difficulties for both athletes there was a silver lining. 

“I think it was better for us both having to go through it together,” Adams said. “I feel like it was also nice to have somebody there because we roomed together, so I would’ve been basically all by myself when everybody went to meets during my freshman year. But instead, we had each other up there because we both had to go do rehab. So, we were always there at the dorm.”

After the rehab, Adams reported to N.C. State once school started last August. 

“I felt great,” he said. “Before practice actually started up, because when we do go back to school practice doesn’t really start up until a little bit later, they give us like two weeks to get settled in, and that’s when practice starts up. They gave me the green light right when I got back before practice even started.”

Adams might’ve been healthy for the first time in a long time, but that didn’t mean he was ready to compete. He and Dawes started working out together last August. 

“I was for sure out of shape,” Adams said. “My strength had probably dipped a bit, but I was definitely out of shape endurance-wise. I already don’t have the greatest endurance, so after basically being a couch potato for eight months it definitely was down the drain. I tried to go out for those two weeks just to practice a bit before practice actually started to get a little bit of endurance.” 

Ironically, Adams’ first meet back after the injury was at Virginia Tech, the place where he hurt his adductor the previous year.

“I was extremely excited because I hadn’t competed for so long,” he said. “I was out for so long I was ready to compete again. That was one of the reasons I hurt myself my freshman year is because I was so ready to compete. But at that point I was so ready to compete that I didn’t listen to my body.” 

After learning from how the injury happened last year, Adams felt ready to go in his return to Virginia Tech, and he not only returned, but he won the meet. 

“I was planning on winning going in,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t really want to lose any meet ever. But I was still getting back into the groove of things. So, I kind of understood where I was at.” 

He felt much better, but he was injured again, this time with a heel bruise after the Clemson meet this past February.

“It feels like somebody is taking a sledgehammer to the bottom of your foot when you jump,” Adams said.

Even though Adams said he didn’t practice for two weeks, he still won the ACC Indoor Championship in early March in Louisville, Kentucky. According to him he won the meet on his last jump, which was 25-5 1/2 inches (7.76 meters). 

“I was not expecting to win ACCs because I was hurt going into ACCs,” Adams said. “After my third jump I literally limped over to my coach, and I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to continue. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to compete right now.’ Because I was literally limping over to him and then I limped back to the seat to go sit down and wait.” 

In addition to his hurt heel, he had to deal with a pulled hamstring at the start of the spring outdoor season. 

“I didn’t compete for the first three or four meets,” Adams said. “They kind of just took me everywhere just to watch.” 

Adams returned to jump at the Virginia Challenge on April 18-19 in Charlottesville, Virginia. His best jump in that meet, according to him, was 26-5. However, those jumps qualified him for the rest of the big meets for the season. Consequently, Adams said because of extreme caution his coach pulled him out of that meet, and he didn’t get to compete in the finals. 

The injury bug hit again at the LSU Alumni Gold meet on April 26 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He tweaked his hamstring and didn’t compete in the next event at Duke in early May. 

However, he felt well enough to compete at the ACC Outdoor Championship, which was held May 15-17 at Wake Forest. Adams won with a jump of 25-2 3/4 (7.69 meters), defeating freshman Trevor Rogers of California, who jumped 25-3/4, (7.66 meters). 

“I was very happy,” Adams said. “My coach is always stressed out at track meets with me because he hates how I always wait til the last second to do what I need to do. Because in indoor I didn’t win until my last jump, and then outdoor, it was the same exact thing. I didn’t win until my last jump.” 

Adams then went on to compete at the NCAA East First Round (Regional) from May 28-31 in Jacksonville, Florida. Adams finished fifth in that meet with a jump of 24-11 3/4 (7.61 meters), well behind senior Louis Gordon of the University of Albany, who jumped 25-8 1/4 (7.83 meters). The meet was delayed because of inclement weather, but the important thing was to qualify for the NCAA championship in Eugene. 

“I wanted to win,” Adams said. “It wasn’t really winning, but I wasn’t (going) for the furthest jump, but I was fine at regionals with just qualifying.” 

The college track and field season is over, but Adams said he’ll be in Raleigh most of the summer to train for the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship to be held July 31-Aug. 3, which will also be at Hayward Field in Eugene. 

“My coach said I should have a mark that gets me in the U.S. Nationals,” Adams said.  

Adams said that the top two qualifiers will advance to the World Track and Field Championships, which are scheduled Sept. 13-21 in Tokyo.

“I feel like if I’m able to get my legs extended, I should have a pretty good shot at it,” Adams said. “Because if I was at the meet that we just had (NCAA Outdoor Championship), if I was able to extend my legs, get some better leg extension, and slow myself down in the air a little bit, I probably would’ve done a lot better than I did. But it all comes with time.”