MC’s King completes stellar meet;  Jones finishes career in style

Not to be outdone was high jumper Melissa Jones, who finished her outstanding three-sport career at Monmouth by earning her fourth All-American honor in her specialty event. She cleared 5’3-3/4 and tied for seventh.

King set a school record of 21.40 in the final of the 200-meter dash, placing second to Andrew Rock of UW-LaCrosse. In the 100-meter dash final, King’s time of 10.82 was good for third place. The race was won for the fourth straight year by Chaz Clemons of Lincoln University.

“Keenan was very good in the 100,” said MC coach Roger Haynes. “That’s a great field to be in, including the four-time champion. He ran very well against excellent competition.

“The 200 went as we hoped it would, and it was a pretty awesome race,” continued Haynes. “We planned things so that Keenan would be pretty fresh for the race, and he was. I was very pleased with his performance.”

King’s 18.5 points at the meet placed Monmouth in the top 15 in the nation and perhaps the top 10. The previous high for points by one MC individual at the national meet was Charles Burton’s 18 in 1992.

As was the case two years in Decatur, the final day of the national meet was contested in and around heavy downpours, and Jones was a victim of that in her event.

“She made a very good jump at 5’6 on her first attempt, which would have put her in the lead,” said Haynes. “She just missed that, and then it rained progressively harder on her final two tries. I know she’s disappointed, but she’s now a four-time All-American, and that’s a great way to finish her career.”

Kim Deprez of SUNY-Geneseo won the event with a jump of 5’5-3/4.