It was an auspicious debut to the outdoor track and field season for Jesse Williams last Saturday.

The Oregon Track Club Elite high jumper returned to his former home turf in Los Angeles to participate in the Mount SAC Relays at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

With a small, but vocal group of fans cheering him on, the four-time NCAA high jump champion at USC, indoors and outdoors, matched his outdoor PR with a winning height of 7 feet, 8 inches.

In the process, the 27-year-old Williams broke two long-standing records: the meet record of 7-7 1/4 set by Hollis Conway in 1991, and the stadium record of 7-7 3/4 shared by China’s Zhu Jinhua (1984) and Brian Stanton (1988).