WHITNEY HARGRAVES PLACES NINTH IN LONG JUMP AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
2012 NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships
Location: DeRose ThunderBowl * Pueblo, Colo.
Top Performer: Whitney Hargraves places ninth in the long jump (5.77 meters)
2012 NCAA Division II Championship Central
PUEBLO, Colo. -- Fresh off her second-place finish in the long jump at the Lone Star Conference Championships, Whitney Hargraves closed out the 2012 season with a ninth-place showing at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships on the campus of Colorado State-Pueblo.
Competing against the top competitors in the nation, Hargraves held her own, posting a leap of 5.77 meters (18' 11.25") to notch A&M-Commerce's third-straight top-10 finish at the national meet. It was the third-best finish of the season for the junior, who closes out the 2012 season with eight top-five finishes in the event.
Hargraves just missed recording team points for the Lions, finishing an inch and a half shy of eighth-place Cheryl Bourne of Ashland. Nickeisha Beaumont of Lincoln (Mo.) won the long jump with a mark of 6.20 meters, besting second-place Ann-Marie Duffus of Grand Canyon (6.05 meters) by half a foot.
Hargraves also joins elite company as she becomes the third-straight Lion to finish in the top-10 at the national meet, joining Starasia Childs (fourth in the triple jump in 2011) and La'Shara Jefferson (ninth in the discus in 2011).
With her event complete at the national meet, Hargraves officially closed the books on the 2011-12 A&M-Commerce athletic season. There were a number of memorable moments and we invite fans to continue to check back as we look back at some of the top A&M-Commerce moments of 2011-12 in the coming weeks.
2012 NCAA Division II Long Jump Finals
1. Nickeisha Beaumont - Lincoln (Mo.) - 6.20 meters
2. Ann-Marie Duffus - Grand Canyon - 6.05 meters
3. Erin Alewine - Central Missouri - 5.99 meters
4. Jillisa Grant - New Mexico Highlands - 5.98 meters
5. Lindsay Lettow - Central Missouri - 5.98 meters
6. Jennifer Zweifel - Truman State - 5.91 meters
7. Theresa Sue - Angelo State - 5.87 meters
8. Cheryl Bourne - Ashland - 5.81 meters
9. Whitney Hargraves - A&M-Commerce - 5.77 meters
10. Diane Lindsay - Lincoln (Pa.) - 5.77 meters
