By: by Scott Lipsky
MACON, Ga. – Senior jumper Jerome McKinzie topped off a great week when he was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week, the conference announced on Wednesday.
McKinzie was named AOTW on the strength of his jump at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational at the University of Florida on Saturday, which cleared 2.20 meters (7-feet-2-and-a-half-inches). The jump not only won him the event, but it also earned him a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships, which is set at 2.14 meters. His 2.20 meter jump is currently the third highest in the nation this season among all NCAA Division I competitors.
“This was a big accomplishment in my career, to finally be at the 2.20 mark after talking about it so long is almost surreal,” said McKinzie, who has now won two out of the three high jump events he has competed in this season. “It hasn’t really hit me yet and probably wont until my career is over, but it is a really cool feeling to finally realize your goals and hopefully exceed them. I love being in an event where I have to ‘raise the bar’ literally every time I compete.”
With the Owls now eligible for Division I post-season competition after successfully completing the NCAA’s mandatory Division re-classification process, McKinzie is now in the mix to be selected to compete in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., which takes place in March. Jerome also earned a provisional qualifying mark last season with a 2.14 meter jump at Clemson, but was not eligible to compete in the national championship since KSU was still going through re-classification.
This is the fourth A-Sun Athlete of the Week honor McKinzie has garnered during his illustrious four-year career. The three-time A-Sun Indoor Track and Field champion and two-time Outdoor champion in the High Jump has one outdoor AOTW award to go along with three during the indoor season.
McKinzie and his teammates do not compete this weekend, and will be back in action next week in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, at the UNC Invitational.
