Desmond Hamilton

Sophomore Desmond Hamilton’s life these days is all about the numbers. An accounting/finance major from Pennsauken, NJ, Hamilton is working in the accounting department at Rider University during the summer. He just returned from Sacramento, California, where he represented Rider at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Outside of the accounting office, some of the numbers preoccupying Hamilton are 26, as in long jumping 26 feet, 20, as in running 200 meters in 20 seconds, and 3, as in how many jumps are in the triple jump.

“My goals are to long jump 26 feet, which is not far off, run the 200 meters in 20 seconds flat, and to return to the NCAA National Championships and possibly qualify for the Olympics,” said Hamilton, who became just the second Bronc to ever qualify for the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Hamilton qualified for Nationals when he placed fifth at the NCAA East Regional, hosted by the University of Florida, when he long jumped 24’ 5.5”. Of the 24 long jumpers at Nationals, Hamilton was seeded sixth due to his long jump of 25’ 8.75” to win the Eastern Championship at the ICAAAA Championships.

“For a school our size to get somebody in there is pretty exceptional,” said Rider Head Coach Rob Pasquariello. “With more than 200 Division I track and field programs, it’s a pretty big accomplishment to be one of only 24 athletes to make it to the National Championships.
“The trip out to Sacramento was wonderful,” Hamilton said, who placed 20th in the preliminaries. “It gave me goals to set for the future. I now know what I need to do to get there and do well.”

“Everybody at Rider should be very proud of how Desmond represented us at Nationals,” Pasquariello said. “He carried himself really well.”

“I want to get back to Nationals, either in the long jump or the triple jump, or both” Hamilton said.

Triple jump? Hamilton dabbled in the triple jump as a freshman, finishing third in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship.

“I think he has as much potential in the triple jump as he does in the long jump, on the national level,” Pasquariello said, “given the fact that his body frame lends itself to the triple jump. It is a tougher technical event to perfect, so consequently we haven’t seen the type of performances from him in that event as we have in the long jump. There is no reason for him other than mastering the technique, which he needs to do. Physically, he has all the gifts to qualify for Nationals in the triple jump.”

“I want to start triple jumping really well,” Hamilton said. “The triple jumpers at Nationals were not any better athletes than I am. They have better technique from practicing it over and over, something I haven’t done. But with enough practice and hard work, once I get the technique down, the triple jump could be my best event, the event that gets me back to Nationals and possibly to the Olympics. I think I might surprise some people with the triple jump next year.”

Hamilton’s size (6’4”, 215) and speed (broke MAAC records in both the 100 meters at 10.55 and 200 meters at 21.42 this spring) made him a very attractive recruit for some of the big track and field powerhouses.

“I picked Rider because I really liked the class sizes and the size of the University,” Hamilton said. “The people here are nice and really down to earth. At some of the bigger schools that tried to recruit me, it was more like you were a number as both a student and an athlete. I felt I could shine here, whereas at one of the bigger schools, I would just be another person on the team. I felt comfortable here.

“It’s also a plus that Rider has a prestigious business program,” said Hamilton, who aspires to become an internal auditor. “I love my summer job in the accounting department.”

He also loves performing at the very highest level of competition. “Desmond was comfortable in the surroundings at Nationals,” Pasquariello said. “We both felt that he belonged there.”

“In high school, my goal was to make the Olympics,” Hamilton said. “The majority of people, when they think of track and field, they think of the Olympics. That goal is still there. I’ve already qualified for the 2008 Olympic trials next year in the long jump. I’m going to do whatever I have to in order to do well at that meet. And I also have the 2012 Olympics to shoot for if I don’t make the 2008.”

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