Charlie Partheymuller
Sophomore Kelsey Daniel finishes his final triple jump attempt at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Chmapionships on March 1, 2025.
Transferring from New Mexico Junior College two years ago, senior Kelsey Daniel thought his best friends on the Texas track and field team would be fellow JUCO products. However, that quickly shifted when he and senior Solomon Washington found a mutual hobby.
“Me and Sol started gelling together because we played FIFA,” Daniel said. “We jump, we train together and then we bond over playing FIFA. That was really the stepping stone in our relationship.”
With contagious personalities, the long jumpers have developed a connection since meeting as juniors which has contributed to each other’s success. The two are Texas’ sole men’s track and field representatives at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
“If you are at practice, you’ll see the constant banter that goes back and forth,” head coach Edrick Floréal said. “They are nonstop at each other, and I think that creates an atmosphere in practice where
people are very relaxed.”
Daniel and Washington’s backgrounds are visibly different.
Daniel from Trinidad and Tobago, introduced to track and field through his primary school coach, former collegiate track athlete Arlon Morrison. With minimal training, he showcased his prodigious talent early on by winning the long jump championships.
He started to represent his country by age 16 and never planned on attending college or moving from his home country. But as New Mexico Junior College recruited the young athlete from Trinidad and Tobago, Morrison advised him to take the opportunity.
“It was one of those situations where I just took that leap of faith,” Daniel said. “Now I’m reaping the rewards of that decision I made four or five years ago.”
Washington, on the other hand, was born and raised in Texas as the son of two Longhorn track and field alumni. His older sisters also competed in the sport collegiately. While it’d seem he was destined for a similar path, track was not his plan for most of his childhood.
“I fought it for a while,” Washington said. “I (played) basketball up until my sophomore year of high school, but then I had a really good track summer ahead of my sophomore year. … The (high school basketball) team wasn’t very good, I wasn’t enjoying it and I was just ready to get out to track. Then after that year, I was completely committed to track.”
Once prioritizing track, Washington’s father, also a jumper, became his biggest mentor and coach. When Texas came calling to recruit him to the Forty Acres, it was an offer he could not reject.
Daniel and Washington’s distinct pasts have shaped distinct athletes, and a relationship in and out of the sand pit allows them to use their strengths to push each other.
“He’s a better technical jumper than I am,” Daniel said. “Whenever I’m having trouble with something, he’ll give me small pointers. … A true leader, Solomon Washington.”
At the Jan. 17 Arkansas Invitational, Washington jumped 7.85 meters, first at the meet until Daniel’s fifth jump of 7.86 meters. On Daniel’s final jump, he and Washington made a friendly bet.
“I literally called it,” Daniel said. “I was like, ‘This is gonna be eight meters,’ and we shook on it.”
Daniel got the last laugh, as the jump was good for 8.03 meters. The performances earned him and Washington the No. 2 and 15 spots on the UT All-Time Performer List, respectively.
The indoor national stage will not be foreign territory for either of them. Washington competed in the meet as a long jumper in 2023, and Daniel did so last year in the triple jump. They are ready to leave it all out in the pit and enjoy every moment.