PJ Austin

Career As a prep for Maricopa High School, Austin competed in basketball, gridiron football, and track and field. He won the CIF California State Meet in the 4 × 100 metres, and set a school record in the long jump.

In 2020, Austin transferred to the Florida Gators track and field program, which he would compete at through 2023. He qualified for his first collegiate nationals at the 2021 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, finishing 13th overall in the long jump.

With a runner-up finish in the 4 × 100 m at the 2022 NCAA Championships, Austin began to specialize in sprinting in 2023.

Austin's biggest breakthrough came in the spring of 2023, at the 2023 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In the East Preliminary Round two weeks prior, he had run 9.88 seconds for 100 m, but with a 5.5 metres/second tailwind that greatly aided the result and made it ineligible for records. At the championships in the first semi-final, Austin nearly repeated this performance with a 9.89 clocking, this time with a legal +1.3 m/s wind. Although he could not repeat this in the finals and only finished 5th, the mark was nonetheless a personal best by 0.2 seconds. Austin competed in the 100 m at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and won his first-round heat, but he did not advance past the semi-finals.

Personal life Austin is from Los Angeles, California where he attended Maricopa High School. He didn't want to compete in track initially, but he was convinced by his football coaches to try it his freshman year. On his first ever attempt at the long jump, he jumped over .

Statistics Personal best progression + 100 m progression # Mark Competition Venue Date 1 10.93 13th Nike Chandler Rotary Elite Chandler, AZ 2 10.86 4th Willie Williams Classic College Tucson, AZ 3 10.66 4th Jim Click Shootout Tucson, AZ 4 10.52 Desert Heat Classic Tucson, AZ 5 10.17 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Austin, TX 6 10.10 Pepsi Florida Relays Gainesville, FL 7 10.09 Tom Jones Memorial Gainesville, FL 8 9.89 NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships Austin, TX

+ Long Jump progression # Mark Competition Venue Date 1 7.01 m Nike Chandler Rotary Elite Chandler, AZ 3 7.37 m Larry Wieczorek Invitational Iowa City, IA 4 7.39 m NAU Tune Up Flagstaff, AZ 5 7.82 m Pan American U20 Athletics Championships San José, Costa Rica 6 7.95 m 5th SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships Fayetteville, AR 7 8.01 m 7th NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships Albuquerque, NM