Cowgirl Senior Jumper Projected as an All-American

photo courtesy of UW Athletics Department

by staff–11 Jan ’19

Leading up to the return of the collegiate indoor track & field season, FloTrack released its projected All-Americans for each event. The publication lists senior Ja’la Henderson as a projected All-American in the indoor triple jump.

Last season, Henderson had a standout campaign where she set two school records and five all-time top-10 Wyoming marks. At the 2018 Mountain West Indoor Championships, Henderson set the new Wyoming triple jump standard with a leap of 42 feet, 11 inches to win the event. She carried her momentum from her indoor title to the MW Outdoor Championships, where she won that event with a jump of 43 feet, 10.5 inches, which was a school record at the time. She broke that record at the NCAA West Preliminary with a jump of 44 feet, 3.5 inches, and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. At the championship meet, Henderson earned outdoor All-American honors in both the triple jump and long jump.

Already this season, Henderson set the school record for the indoor long jump at the Power Meet, where she won the event with a jump of 20-7. She also won the triple jump by recording a mark of 41-9.25. Currently, that is the NCAA’s best long jump so far this season and the sixth-best triple jump in the country this season.

Henderson and the rest of the Wyoming track and field teams continue their season at the North Dakota State Team Challenge on Saturday, Jan. 19, in Fargo, N.D.