Jenkins shines at NCAAs, Kats open outdoors
3/13/2016 11:49:00 PM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
With the Sam Houston State track and field programs inscribing the 2016 indoor season as one for the ages, it only seemed fitting that senior Ashley Jenkins added one final accolade.
Competing among the nation's premier competitors at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships, Jenkins became Sam Houston's first female athlete to earn All-America honors during the indoor season, finishing fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 70 feet, 8 inches.
The Dallas native, who also entered the event ranked fourth nationally, finished less than three feet behind UC Riverside's Vesta Bell who took home the title at 73 feet, 6 ¾ inches. With the result, Jenkins set a women's program record for highest finish at the Championships, while matching Michael Courtney's fourth-place finish in the 400-meter dash during 2010.
Jenkins also becomes Sam Houston's first two-time All-American, adding on to her ninth place outdoor finish in the hammer throw last season. Her teammate, and fellow 2015 All-American Danielle Demas, was also in competition at the Championships, finishing 16th at 8.36.
Demas was crowned the top point-scorer at the Southland Championships, bringing home 28 total with top finishes in the 60 meters and 60-meter hurdles. The senior also took second in the 200-meter dash.
Over the weekend, the Bearkats also opened the outdoor season at the Cowboy Relays, hosted by McNeese State. There, Sam Houston logged seven top-three results including three top finishes while finishing fourth behind 109.83 points.
Courtney Lord won the women's high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 8 ¾ inches, following up her top finish in the event at the Southland Indoor Championships. Likewise, Kristine Hanks, the league's indoor shot put champion, took home the event title with a toss of 49 feet, 2 ½ inches. For the men, Garrett Larson captured first in the pole vault, his first top finish in the event.
The Kats secured a trio of second-place finishes courtesy of Ashley Thompson in the pole vault (12 feet, 9 ½ inches), Elizabeth Lyssy in the javelin throw (142 feet, 4 inches) and Aaron Akens in the discus throw (170 feet) as well as a third-place mark from Jonathan Andrews in the high jump (6 feet, 4 ¾ inches).
In the men's pole vault, Ashton Summers went fourth (15 feet, 5 inches) as did Kalvin Singletary in the shot put (53 feet, 2 ¾ inches) and Akens in the 164 feet, 2 inches. For the women, Margaret LaSalle took fourth in the pole vault with a height of 11 feet, 1 ¾ inches.
Singletary was followed by Michael Nichols in fifth at 51 feet, 11 ¾ inches. In the javelin throw, Anthony Garcia also finished fifth at 198 feet, 7 inches. In the women's triple jump, Jasmine Lipscomb grabbed fifth at 37 feet, 10 ¾ inches.
The Bearkats return to action next Saturday at the UTSA Invitational. The event is part of a nine-event schedule all gearing up towards the Southland Outdoor Championships, where the Sam Houston men and women will seek to repeat as team champions.
