King, Owusu-Sampah Compete in Long Jump at NCAA Preliminary

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sophomores Kennedy King (38^th) and Ebony Owusu-Sampah (46^th) made their career debuts in NCAA action on Friday night as both competed in the NCAA Track and Field East Preliminary held at North Florida's Hodges Stadium.

"It was a good opportunity for them to experience the NCAA Regional and to know that they are competitive with anybody on the East Coast," Head Coach Cheree Hicks said. "It was a good learning experience to springboard us into next year. Unfortunately it didn't turn out like we all would have liked, but they competed well and we are excited about our prospects for the future.

King and Owusu-Sampah each took part in the second of four flights in the event with each entrant attempting three jumps. King finished 38^th overall with a best jump of 5.68 meters, which came on her second attempt. She hit 5.48 meters on her opening attempt and 5.51 on her final try.

Owusu-Sampah placed 46^th overall with a jump of 5.47 meters, which she achieved on her first leap. Her second and third attempts both faulted.

JMU will have one more competitor in the NCAA East Preliminary as junior Kathleen Stewart competes Saturday night in the 5,000-meter run. She will run in the first of two heats with a scheduled start time of 8:05 p.m.

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