Anderson Honored as Midwest Region Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
March 11, 2008
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LAWRENCE, Kan. – After a record-setting season, junior Nickesha Anderson was honored as the Midwest Region Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year on Tuesday for her tremendous achievements for the University of Kansas track and field team this season. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
“Nickesha is very, very competitive,” said head coach Stanley Redwine. “She has stepped it up in her training and she has stepped it up in her competitions. Coach (Elisha) Brewer has done an excellent job in helping her develop along the way.”
Anderson held the world’s leading time in the 200-meter dash for nearly a month and currently stands at second in the world in the event with her finish of 22.94 at the Tyson Invitational on February 16. For her achievement, she was named the co-Big 12 Female Athlete of the Week after the meet.
“Her personality is great,” Redwine said of the Hanover, Jamaica, native who won 12 NAIA titles in the last two years at Missouri Baptist. “It fits great with the team. She is special. But she was special coming in (to Kansas). Her accomplishments prior to coming here were excellent, but her personality and how she blends with the team is very rare.”
The Big 12 champion in the 60-meter dash, Anderson holds the school record in that event as well as the 200 meters. She automatically qualified for the NCAA’s and set the facility record in Kansas’ Anschutz Pavilion in both those events this year. She has steadily improved her times throughout the indoor season, breaking or matching her own record in each one of her 60-meter finals and doing so on four occasions in the 200 meters.
This weekend Anderson will run in three events at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Heading into the meet, she is second in the nation in the 200 meters and third in the country in the 60-meter dash. She is also the anchor of Kansas’ school-record holding 1,600-meter relay team, which is ranked eighth in the NCAA.
