KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

NAMPA, Idaho - Indiana State junior Felisha Johnson finished seventh in the shot put at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships Saturday with her best throw coming on her second attempt and going 54-feet-5¼-inches (16.59 meters). She earned First Team All-American honors for the second time this weekend and the third time in her ISU career.

"We had a good day," Angela Martin, Indiana State track & field coach, said. "Nicole looked good early but maybe got a little anxious later on. She still had a good meet for her first national championship competition. It was fun to watch Felisha competing. She scored points for us again against some very good competition. Pounds was disappointed but he use this as motivation for the outdoor season. He is a good leader for the team.

Tia Brooks of Oklahoma won the women's shot put championship with a distance of 62-feet-4-inches (19.00 meters) while Southern Illinois' Jeneva McCall was second at 58-feet-11½-inches (17.97 meters) and Arizona's Jill Labonte third at 58-feet-0¼-inches (17.68 meters).

Johnson finished fourth in the women's weight throw on Friday with her best throw of 67-feet-4-inches (20.52 meters) coming on her first throw of the competition.

The Indiana State junior is the third member of the Sycamore women's team to compete in two events at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Erica Moore competed in the pentathlon and 800 meters at the 2010 NCAA Indoors while Holli Hyche competed in the 55 meters and 200 meters at the 1993 and 1994 Indoor Championships. Hyche won the title in each event both years.

Four women have competed in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoors including Jenny Folz (fifth in 1999), Kelsey Hanley (seventh in 2011), and Carrie Myers (ninth in 1999 and fourth in 2000). Johnson won the event at the 2011 NCAAs and finished fourth this year.

The Sycamore is just the second member of the Indiana State women's team to compete in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships following Christy Barrett who was sixth in 1990 and placed second in 1991.

Johnson broke Barrett's school record in the shot put at the EIU Friday Night Special on Feb. 17 with a distance of 55-feet-5¾-inches and set the school record in the weight throw with her winning effort of 74-feet-5¾-inches at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships.

Sycamore senior Nicole Hope finished 13th in the women's pole vault as she cleared 13-feet-9¼-inches (4.20 meters) and had several good attempts at what would have been a personal best of 13-feet-11¼-inches (4.25 meters) before bowing out of the competition. Tina Sutej of Arkansas won the championship by clearing 14-feet-7¼-inches (4.45 meters) with Georgia's Morgann Leleux second at 14-feet-5¼-inches (4.40 meters) and Stanford's Katerina Stefanidi third at 14-feet-3¼-inches (4.35 meters).

Hope is just the second member of the Indiana State women's team to compete in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Championships following Kylie Hutson who won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010 after placing 11th at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championship.

The Sycamore senior established a personal best when she cleared 13-feet-11-inches (4.24 meters) in winning the MVC Indoor Championship on Feb. 26. That is the second best vault in ISU history behind Hutson's 14-feet-9-inches (4.50 meters) that she cleared in 2010.

Indiana State junior Brandon Pounds placed 16th in the men's weight throw with his best distance coming on his second throw at 62-feet-11¼-inches (19.18 meters).  Marcel Lomnicky of Virginia Tech won the championship with a distance of 72-feet-3¾-inches (22.04 meters) with Southern Illinois' J.C. Lambert second at 72-feet-1-inch (21.97 meters) and Alexander Ziegler of Virginia Tech third at 70-feet-10-inches (21.59 meters).

Pounds is just the second member of the Sycamore men's team to compete in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championship following Kevin Brown who placed fifth at the 1990 NCAAs.

The Sycamore junior holds the school record in the weight throw with a distance of 70-feet-8½-inches (21.55 meters) set at the EIU Friday Night Special on Feb. 17. He also ranks third in the shot put with a distance of 59-feet-2-inches (18.05 meters) set in 2010.

Both Hope and Pounds earned Second Team All-American honors with their efforts this weekend.