ABILENE - Members of the Abilene Christian track and field program Wednesday received some good news as they prepare for this weekend's Lone Star Conference Championships. Senior
Nick Jones had his name added to the 'also receiving mention' section of
The Bowerman watch list, while Chloe Susset and Amanda Ouedraogo were selected as the LSC's athletes of the week.
A native of Amarillo, Texas, Jones leads the DII ranks in the discus by nearly ten feet and is the all-division collegiate leader behind his personal best throw of 203 feet, 3 inches (61.95m), which he recorded several weeks ago at Texas-El Paso.
Jones' effort at Kidd Field moved him up to third place on the all-time DII performance list, which only ranks behind former Wildcat and 1996 Olympian Andy Kokhanovsky, who recorded the DII record of 211-5 (64.44m) at the Abilene Invitational on May 9, 1996, and 1988 Olympian Randy Heisler (204-1, 62.22m), who posted his top mark with the University of Indianapolis at the 1984 NCAA Championships.
Jones, who is tops in the DII shot put ranks with a throw of 62-04.50 (19.01m), is a three-time national champion in the discus and five-time conference champion.
The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation, and is named for legendary Oregon track & field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman.
Susset and Ouedraogo, both natives of France, became ACU's 11th and 12th recipients of the Lone Star Conference's weekly award. This is Susset's first LSC citation of the spring, while Ouedrago has won three to tie Jones for the program lead. Additional Wildcat winners include long jumper LeVance Williams, throwers Baptiste Kerjean and Shalaina Lakey, and runners Banjo Jaiyesimi and Shennae Steele.
Susset was honored by the conference after recording a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 10:24.65 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Sunday night at Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational. Her fifth-place time was a season best by more than 30 seconds, and 10 seconds under the automatic qualifying standard of 10:35.00.
Susset is the first Wildcat runner this spring to qualify for nationals, joining a group that already includes Ouedraogo, Williams, Jones and Kerjean.
Susset previously recorded a NCAA provisional time of 10:56.80 in her most recent steeplechase appearance at UT-Arlington's Bobby Lane Invitational, and at Baylor two weeks ago, she clocked a time of 4:30.10 in the 1,500m, which currently is the 14th fastest in all of DII.
Ouedraogo, the nation's leader in the triple jump, won the event last weekend at the prestigious Penn Relays Carnival with a distance of 41-6.50 inches to top Kelcey McKinney of Ohio State (40-5). She has won two triple jumps this spring and currently owns a season best of 43-03.25 (13.19m).
