Jackson and Hodge Honored By Mountain West Conference
4/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
April 1, 2009
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Former Flyin' Frog greats Jonathan Jackson and Virgil Hodge were selected on Wednesday as part of the Mountain West Conference 10th Anniversary Outdoor Track & Field Team.
In order to be eligible for consideration, candidates must have won an individual title at the Mountain West Conference Championship or attained All-American status at least once in their careers.
Jackson ended his prestigious career as a two-time All-American, while also recording multiple conference championships in both the long and triple jump. The nation's No. 3 ranked jumper going into the 2008 NCAA Championships, Jackson qualified for nationals by posting runner-up honors at the Midwest Regional.
In 2008, Jackson had one of the most successful outings for an athlete in Penn Relays history. The senior crushed his own school record to win the men's triple jump after winning the long jump on his first day of competition in Philadelphia. By doing so he earned College Athlete of the Meet honors for individual events. The Grand Prairie, Texas, native, who's mark of 54 feet, 3.75 inches in the triple jump was as high as No. 1 in the NCAA during the season recorded the 10th longest jump in Penn Relays history. He became the first TCU track and field athlete ever to win both the men's long and triple jump at the Penn Relays. He also became the first TCU male or female to win a title in the triple jump at Franklin Field.
Finally, Jackson, who earned his second All-America honor of his career during the indoor season in the triple jump, won the conference title in the triple jump, claiming his third career MWC outdoor crown with a winning leap of 51 feet, 2 ¼ inches. Overall, the Grand Prairie native won the event by more than four feet over Colorado State's Nnamdi Agwu.
During the indoor season, Jackson earned All-American honors by soaring 16.32m (53-06.50) to finish third overall in the men's triple jump at nationals. Jackson's mark broke his own school record.
He earned his first All-America honors of his career by placing third in the triple jump at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships finishing third with a leap of 52-09.50 (16.09m). Finally, he won the MWC Outdoor title in both the long and triple jump and became the only individual in school history to win conference titles in both the long and triple jump.
Hodge, a six-time All-American, closed her career in style as she competed in both the 100 and 200 meters at the 2008 outdoor NCAA Championships. Simply put, the St. Kitts native is one of the most prolific runners ever at TCU and competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in both the 100 and 200 meters.
Hodge, who posted the No. 8 time in the 100 and No. 5 in the 200 metes in the NCAA heading into the 2008 outdoor nationals, won both events at the Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Worth last spring. At the MWC Championships, Hodge, who set a new St. Kitts national record in the 100, closed out her MWC career in style as she clocked a new personal best time of 11.21 seconds in the 100 meters to claim her third-straight conference outdoor title. She also won her third-straight 200-meter championship title. At the TCU Invitational, Hodge blazed to a first-place finish with then the third fastest time in the world. The senior clocked a time of 22.76, which was the fastest mark in the NCAA for two-straight weeks.
Earlier this year, she was selected as part of the 10th Anniversary Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field Team.
Players Mentioned
