Trackwoman Walker makes Indoor Nationals in long jump

By MIKE MITSTIFER
Collegian Staff Writer

After sending no one to NCAA Indoor Nationals last season, Penn State women's indoor track coach Teri Jordan chose to split her team up this weekend. She sent two of her athletes to a different meet, hoping to get them qualified for NCAA Nationals.

Mission accomplished.

On Friday, Shakeema Walker qualified for the March 5-6 NCAA Indoor Nationals in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, seven inches. The jump was easily good enough to win the event at Butler's prestigious Cannon IV Classic. The second-place competitor, Southern's Erin Narzinski, was more than nine inches behind Walker's jump.

Walker also competed in the triple jump, posting an impressive second-place finish in the event with a leap of 41-8½. Walker was joined at Butler by sophomore Toyin Augustus, making her first big push for a spot at nationals. Augustus responded by placing respectably with a sixth-place finish in the 60-meter low hurdles and 12th-place finish in the triple jump.

While Walker was busy qualifying for nationals at Butler, two of her teammates nearly duplicated her feat in a non-team scoring meet at George Mason's Patriot Games.

Felicia Cooksey took the high jump event with a leap of 5-8½, just missing the cut for nationals. Freshman Deshaya Williams also barely missed qualifying for nationals in the shot put, despite winning the event with a heave of 47-3¾.

That duo still has another major opportunity to qualify, at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships in Boston, Mass., in three weeks.

"We're still not totally right where we want to be," said Jordan. "We missed a meet and we'd like to get all the health problems corrected.

"If we get rid of all that, we should be in a perfect position for Big Tens."

One of the health problems Jordan referred to was the flu that has stricken distance runner Susanne Heyer. The upcoming week without a meet should help Heyer and the team get ready for the Big Ten Indoor Championships Feb. 20-21 in Columbus, Ohio.

"Everyone just has to keep their spirits high and let the illnesses take care of themselves," said Heyer.

Since the beginning of the season, Jordan's goal for the Big Ten Championships was a top-five finish, an opinion that hasn't changed despite the team's success in the indoor season. Her team's sights still seem set on the upcoming outdoor campaign. The Lady Lions feel they are a stronger outdoor team as a result of the addition of some different events.

"This is definitely a great springboard to the outdoor season," said Jordan.

In the upcoming weeks before Big Tens, the Lions plan to maintain a similar training regimen as they have up to this point. Jordan plans to keep her team training hard until next Wednesday, before taking it easy in the days leading up to the event.

With a great number of respiratory illnesses, flus and coughs seeping into the team, this week off from meets may be just what the doctor ordered.