June 14, 2009

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.-Seniors Pat Springs of Charlotte and Rhode Island's Jasmine Jennings earned All-America distinction after their stellar performances at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Springs hit a distance of 19'9 ¾" to finish in 10th place in the long jump. Springs also picked up Indoor All-American honors in the event and became only the third 49er in program history to earn All-American honors in both indoor and outdoor track and field during the same sports year (Will Montgomery, 2000 and Shareese Woods, 2007).

Charlotte has seen 11 athletes, including Springs, pick up All-American honors during the program's history.

Jennings became the first URI women's track and field student-athlete to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Jennings finished eighth overall in the hammer throw, with a performance of 197 feet, 4 inches.

"This is such an awesome feeling," Jennings said. "This is a great achievement and it is something I have been working toward all year. I have received so much support from my coaches, friends and family. They have helped me both physically and mentally over the last couple of years."

Her scoring performance at the national championship meet capped off an outstanding senior season for the Warwick, R.I., native. Jennings captured the hammer throw titles at the Penn Relays and Atlantic 10 and New England Championships. She earned an automatic spot in the field of the NCAA Championship by virtue of her second place finish at the NCAA East Regional Championship.