ALAIN Bailey struck gold in the long jump Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center to capture his first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Indoor title.

The 22-year-old Jamaican, a senior at the University of Arkansas, equalled his personal best 8.17 metres, to outjump America’s World Youth bronze medallist and University of Florida Christian Taylor, 7.93m, and Jamaican and fellow Arkansas teammate Tarik Batchelor, who took the bronze with 7.92m.

“This feels so great,” said Bailey, earning his fourth All-American honour, third indoors, and Arkansas eighth NCAA Indoor long jump title.

“I’ve been waiting four years for this and I finally got it,” Bailey added. “I’m ecstatic right now. I was able to jump a really good series, very consistent. I had three jumps over 26 feet and I felt really relaxed. I started tiring after that third jump but it held up,” he noted.

Batchelor, a sophomore, earned his first All-American honour.

“What Alain and Tarik did in the long jump was really a great start for us,” said head coach Chris Bucknam.

Assistant coach Travis Geopfert added: “They gave unbelievable effort. When you come into a national championship ranked first and third, you obviously have a big target on your back. To be able to come out of it first and third, that just shows you how good they’ve been at handling the pressure.

“It was great that they could do this at home. The fans were great, all the teammates were down there clapping and cheering. It created an exciting atmosphere for an exciting competition,” he explained.

Bailey became the third Jamaican to win the NCAA Indoor long jump title, after Maurice Wignall for Geroge Mason in 1999 and Nicholas Gordon for the University of Nebraska last year.

Interestingly, Bailey’s winning distance is the same as Australian Fabrice Lapierre, who won the World Indoor long jump title yesterday in Doha, Qatar.