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Mountain West Conference Track and Field Athletes of the Week TCU's Jonathan Jackson and Neidra Covington and Colorado State's Emily Pearson earn the award
April 29, 2008 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - TCU senior Jonathan Jackson has been selected as the Mountain West Conference Men's Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week, while TCU sophomore Neidra Covington and Colorado State senior Emily Pearson have been named MWC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Co-Athletes of the Week. Jackson, a native of Grand Prairie, Texas, broke his own school record to win the men's triple jump on Saturday at the Penn Relays held in Philadelphia. The senior earned College Athlete of the Meet honors for individual events after leaping 54'-3.75" (16.55m) in the triple jump, as well as capturing the title in the long jump with a mark of 24'-2.50" (7.38m). Both are NCAA regional qualifying marks and rank first in the MWC this season. Jackson's triple jump mark is also currently the longest in the nation, according to TrackShark.com, third in the all-time MWC record book, and 10th in Penn Relays history. With his performances, Jackson became the first TCU student-athlete to win a title in the triple jump at Franklin Field and only the second to win the long jump and be named Individual Athlete of the Meet at the Penn Relays. Fellow Horned Frog Covington also competed in the Penn Relays last weekend, earning runner-up honors in the championship division of the women's triple jump by soaring 43'-3.75" (13.20m). The regional qualifying mark broke her own school record, which she set last weekend at the TCU Invitational, and currently leads the league, ranks tied for third in all-time MWC history and 12th in the country, according to TrackShark.com. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native also led TCU in the long jump by leaping 19'-8.00" (5.99m) to place sixth overall. Pearson set new Colorado State and Jack Christiansen Track heptathlon records by scoring 5,439 points at Friday's Glenn Morris Invitational held in Fort Collins, Colo. Hailing from La Junta, Colo., Pearson won four of the seven events, including scoring 730 points after running the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:27.09. Her heptathlon score is currently the 11th best in the nation, according to TrackShark.com, and was just 81 points shy of the NCAA automatic mark. It ranks first in the league so far this season and fifth all-time in the MWC.
This marks Jackson's and Covington's first career weekly honor, while Pearson earns her second. Mountain West Conference Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week Date Men Women March 25 Anthony Fairbanks, Jr., New Mexico Courtney Gougler, Jr., Wyoming April 1 Leif Arrhenius, So., BYU Decontee Kaye, Jr., San Diego State April 8 Bob Low, Jr., BYU Kishelle Paul, Jr., TCU April 15 Leif Arrhenius, So., BYU Stephanie Bagan, So., San Diego State Lee Emanuel, Jr., New Mexico April 22 Justyn Warner, Jr., TCU Virgil Hodge, Sr., TCU April 29 Jonathan Jackson, Sr., TCU Neidra Covington, So., TCU Emily Pearson, Sr., Colorado State |
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