Feb. 28, 2014
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - WKU Track and Field head coach Erik Jenkins has been named the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Women's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year following the Lady Toppers title run earlier this week while senior thrower Jessica Ramsey, who won two individual crowns of her own, has been named the Women's Most Outstanding Field Performer, the league announced Friday.
Jenkins' Coach of the Year honor is his 15th from the league since taking the reins of the track and field and cross country programs in 2008. Jenkins has led WKU to a combined 24 Sun Belt Conference Championships since being named head coach in January 2008, including five women's indoor titles in the past seven seasons.
Ramsey was named the Women's Most Outstanding Field Performer for the second time in her career after capturing shot put and weight throw titles at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships earlier this week. Ramsey set a conference and school record with her shot put heave of 54-feet Tuesday night and currently ranks 17th nationally in the event. She also set the school weight throw record earlier this season at 66-feet-9 ¾ inches and ranks 24th nationally in the event.
Ramsey was named the Sun Belt Conference Women's Field Athlete of the Week in four of the six weeks it was awarded during the 2013-14 indoor season and has now been named the Women's Most Outstanding Field Performer in back-to-back championship meets, as she also earned the honor at the 2013 SBC Outdoor Championships.
Freshman jumper/sprinter Sandra Akachukwu led all league freshmen with 14 points scored at the SBC Indoor Track and Field Championships and was named the Women's Most Outstanding Freshman, as voted on by league coaches. Akachukwu ranked seventh overall with the 14 points she contributed to the Lady Toppers title, a total that outranked every non-WKU freshman or sophomore in the conference. She finished second in the high jump with a school record leap of 5-feet-9 ¼ inches and also scored points in the long jump (4th place) and 60-meter dash (8th place).
Ventavius Sears received Men's Most Outstanding Freshman honors for the Hilltoppers after scoring points in the long jump, triple jump, 60 and 200-meter dashes. Sears led all freshmen and non-WKU sophomores with 16 points scored. He finished third in the long jump for all-conference honors, fourth in the 200-meter dash, fifth in the triple jump and eighth in the 60-meter dash.
The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship fate of individual Lady Topper and Hilltopper performers will be determined by next Tuesday, March 4 when all the results of this weekend's conference championships are complete. Jessica Ramsey, Elvyonn Bailey, Derrick Hill and the Hilltoppers 4X400-meter relay all currently rank Top 20 nationally in their respective events. The Top 16-18 marks in the nation are generally invited to the NCAAs.
For more information on WKU Track and Field, follow the team on Twitter @WKUTrackField or visit WKUSports.com.
