Women's Track & Field
Jennings Receives National Academic Momentum Award
Oct. 10, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Jasmine Jennings, a member of the University of Rhode Island's women's track & field team, was honored with the National Academic Momentum Award.
The Warwick, R.I. native was the female recipient of the award from the New England region. The Scholar-Baller® Program, in conjunction with the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS) sponsors the award. Sixty-three nominations were received from across the country. A male and female winner was chosen from nine of the NCAS' 10 regions. All nominees are individually and collectively a testament to the "student" in the "student-athlete.
Jennings won the 2008 the NCAA East Regional championship in the hammer throw, held on May 31 at Florida State. She took the event with a throw of 205-06 (62.64m), setting a new URI school record in the process. By virtue of her regionals victory, she earned an automatic spot at the NCAA Championship meet, held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She finished 26th at the national championship meet this past June. Jennings also captured the Atlantic 10 title in the hammer throw.
The NCAS is an ever-growing organization of colleges and universities that provides opportunities for current and former student-athletes to continue their pursuit of higher education, while working in the community with children to address social issues. Established in 1985, the overall mission of the NCAS is "to create a better society by focusing on educational attainment and using the power appeal of sport to positively affect social change."
Established in 1995, the Scholar-Baller® movement evolved in response to concerns that the student-athlete's athletic role increasingly superseded the student role. In order to address this issue, the founding members of Scholar-Baller® developed a groundbreaking program to bridge the gap between education and sport utilizing student-athletes' passion for entertainment and athletics. As a result, the Scholar-Baller® program has produced unprecedented outcomes in student retention and academic achievement.
Each honoree will receive a recognition certificate and authentic Scholar-Baller® patch. In addition, the winners of each region will receive a ThinkmanTM and ThinkwomanTM Trophy for their academic performances.
