Six track and field student-athletes claimed Lone Star Conference Athlete of the Week honors for their efforts, league officials announced today.
TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN’S TRACK
Desmond Jackson, Abilene Christian University, SR, Midland, Texas, Midland Lee HS
Jackson finished second in the invitational 100 and 200 against fields made up entirely of Division I and professional runners at the Baylor Michael Johnson Dr Pepper Classic, with PR times of 10.22 in the 100 and 20.79 in the 200. Both times moved the senior up to the #2 position in all of Division II and established him as one of the premier sprint talents in the U.S. regardless of division.
CO-MEN’S FIELD
Jacob McDonald, Angelo State University, SO, San Angelo, Texas, Lake View HS
McDonald topped teammate Andrew Allison on a judge’s decision as the Angelo State duo matched six other pole vaulters with the third-best marks at the Michael Johnson Dr. Pepper Classic at Baylor Saturday. The junior’s vault of 16’-6.75” (5.05m) is the best in the Lone Star Conference (along with Allison) and is tied for third-best in all of NCAA Division II this season. McDonald became the sixth Angelo State student-athlete to provisionally qualify in the pole vault during the 2011 campaign. The mark was also a personal best.
Servell Dandridge, West Texas A&M University, SO, DeSoto, Texas, Duncanville HS
Dandridge had a phenomenal day last weekend at the Texas Tech Open as he set an NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark in the men’s discus event. The sophomore thrower finished third overall, but was the highest finisher among DII competitors as he tossed an automatic mark of 179’-08”. Dandridge also finished fifth on the day in the shot put event with a toss of 48’-08.5”.
Bill Squire, Eastern New Mexico University, JR, Hagerman, N.M., Hagerman HS
Squire participated in three events and turned in two NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks with three top-five performances last Friday at the Texas Tech Invitational. He set a personal record in the shot put with a provisional qualifying toss of 54’-10”, which placed him second in the meet, and propelled him to 17th in the nation. Squire also finished second in the hammer throw with a toss of 181’-05” for another provisional mark. Rounding out the meet, the junior tossed the discus 159’-11” which was good for 5th place.
WOMEN’S TRACK
Diana Zarate, Texas A&M University - Kingsville, SR, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, San Patricio HS
Prior to the month of April, Zarate had not broken 1:05.00 in the 400-meter hurdles, but has been on fire since the calendar changed. Last week, she finished second at the J. Fred Duckett Invitational hosted by Rice with a career best time of 1:02.08. She provisionally qualified for nationals and has the best time in the LSC this year by over two seconds.
WOMEN’S FIELD
Samantha Alvarez, Texas A&M University - Kingsville, SO, Victoria, Texas, Memorial HS
Alvarez had another strong performance this past week at the J. Fred Duckett Invitational hosted by Rice. She nearly picked up her fifth win of the year in the high jump with a clearance of 5’-7.25”. She tied for first, but lost out on number of misses. She also performed well in the pole vault clearing 11-’2.5”, her third best mark of the season and seventh time she has gone over 11 feet.