ROCHESTER, N.Y. — On a big track, there are a lot of big dreams. Cole Goodman uses his goals on the rubber to push himself in all aspects of life.

“Even when you’re like, like when you think you’re at like a certain level, there’s always like more that you can do. And I guess that’s like something that can be applied to like pretty much every area of life, right?” Goodman smiled.

What You Need To Know

  • Cole Goodman is a student-athlete at the University of Rochester, class of 2025
  • The nationally ranked triple jumper is set to compete in Olympic trials on Friday
  • He was inspired by his dad to start triple jumping about eight years ago
  • He recently won the NCAA D-III title for the triple jump, his first national title, and the men's track and field program's first national title in 35 years
  • This upcoming year, he will be a captain of the track jumpers where he hopes to inspire the upcoming underclassmen

He’s a software engineering student at the University of Rochester and part of the class of 2025. He’s been a triple-jumper for about eight years. Goodman was inspired to start his jumping career by his father.

“I beat his best jump when he was in college, when I was in high school," Goodman said of his father. "And I just remember, like, OK, how far can I take this? And it just took off from there."

He recently made a name for himself by earning a title NCAA Division III for men’s triple jump. It was his first national championship, and the school’s first national title for men’s track and field in 35 years. It was that jump that made the impossible, possible.

“It’s everybody’s dream to go to the Olympics, right?" he said. "The average boy is just like, 'Oh, I really, really want to make it to the NBA, or I really, really want to NFL, play for my favorite team.' And for me, [I] really, really wanted to make it to the Olympics. Once you go above and beyond, you go to like a global scale, it can be very, very interesting. So I definitely want to see how far I can really take it, especially at this level.”

He says the sport has taught him power and focus. They are two skills he plans on prioritizing while competing in the Olympic Trials on Friday.

“I feel pretty good right now," he said. "I think the biggest thing is probably getting ready for the competition. I haven’t really felt this excited to jump in a really, really long time because a lot of the people that are there are people I’ve watched film on [and] taken notes on. And I guess I was a really big fan of them when I was like 13, 14 years old. So it’s a weird feeling trying to like see people that I’ve only really seen on TV. The mental fortitude of just being about to focus on the jump and not try to worry about everybody else. And even I’ll admit, like sometimes, I focus a little bit too much on other people when I should be focusing on myself. And that’s a big part of that’s a really big part of it. Because that can really chip into it.”

He hopes his national rankings will help put track and field events on the map for future athletes hoping to go pro.

“It’s not as marketable as [a] more marketable sport, like football or basketball or even like soccer to some degree," he said. "And you know, triple jump on top of that. Not being the most recognized, like event in track and field, if I tell people like I had it to Olympic trials in like the triple jump, their first question isn’t like, ‘Oh you made Olympic trials, how did you do that?’ It’s like, ‘What’s triple jump?’”

As he approaches his senior year of college, he’ll be a captain of the track jumpers. He says he’s been told some of the incoming freshmen are aware of who he is in the track world, and he hopes his experience at trials will help him pass along wisdom to the underclassmen.

“It should be fun," Goodman said. "I’m going to be a captain of the track team next year, or at least for the jumps part, and t’s a little bit less to try to be, I guess, lead by example and also try to put them in the right direction. And it’s easier to do that when they already know who you are."

Overall, he hopes his experience will be one he will always remember.

“It’s pure excitement," Goodman smiled. "Of course, its everybody’s dream to go to the Olympics and its everybody’s dream to like get to that point, but I know it wasn’t exactly in my bingo cards to be at the Olympic trials to begin with for this year. So I’m just kind of going in with no real expectations. So to make the Olympic team, it’s more just a learning experience. And it’s nice to, I guess, talk to my kids about this one day, like, 'Oh, I made the Olympic trials. I competed with the best of the best.'"