(Hutchison, KS) The Pima Community College women’s track & field team closed out the 2022 season on Saturday at the NJCAA Division I National Championships.
The Aztecs finished in 15th place in the final team standings with a team score of 16 points.
Sophomore Jessica Bright-Schade (Safford HS) took sixth place in the Javelin with a throw of 36.28 meters (119-feet) on her second attempt. She gained three team points for the Aztecs.
“It’s very exciting, I wasn’t expecting this but it was one of my goals to become an All-American,” Bright-Schade said. “I came in pretty low than what I wanted to come in being in the first flight out of two and a total of 22 girls. I really just put it all out there in my first three throws and got my furthest throw of 36.28 meters in the first flight which helped me get into that finals and secured me a spot as an All-American.
“On my first couple of throws they felt good but there was just little things where it was ‘oh I need to encounter the wind with my throw’ and sometimes I threw it way too high and that just shot it straight down. So those little adjustments helped me a lot.”
The Aztecs finished with one NJCAA national champion:
Jaida Olson – Pole Vault
Four Total NJCAA All-Americans
Jessica Bright-Schade (6th in Javelin)
Abigail Walls (7th in Heptathlon)
Jackie Trice (8th in Long Jump)
Other Pima finishes:
Lucy Chavez (Bisbee HS) – 12th place in the Discus 40.17 meters (131-9)
Akira Jones (St. David HS) – 13th in Discus 40.10 meters (131-6)
Victoria Malaki (Dobson HS) – 16th ion Discus 39.06 meters (128-1)
Press Release courtesy of Pima Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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