The Las Vegas, New Mexico, area Subway® restaurants and Manger Regina Denardo is pleased to announce that track and field senior Salcia Slack has been named the Subway Eat Fresh Student-Athlete of the Week on Monday (March 16).
Slack set the tone early in the pentathlon at the 2015 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships Saturday (March 14), dominating the field in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.57 – 0.10 second better than her nearest competitor. Despite a season-best mark of 1.60 meters (5'3") in the high jump, she finished 11th in the event to drop her to fourth overall after two events. She reclaimed the top spot with a throw of 13.39 meters (43'-11.25") in the shot put.
She left nothing to chance from there.
After a disappointing performance Friday (March 13) in the long jump, Slack rebounded in a big way by winning the pentathlon portion with a distance of 5.90 meters (19'4.25"). Holding a 196-point edge going into the final event, Slack blew by the field by nearly four seconds in the 800 meters with a time of 2:16.52.
"Salcia was a champion in more ways than one this weekend. She set three lifetime bests and willed us back into the team race," Head Coach Bob DeVries said.
Slack's busy day was just getting started as she next took second in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.37 seconds, just 0.01 second from another event title. Sophomore teammate Osheen Erskine finished sixth with a time of 8.55.
Two All-America nods were quite lonely, so Slack decided to go out for a third. She again set the tone early, landing in fourth in the triple jump after her first attempt. Slack moved as high as second, but she finished third with a leap of 12.75 meters (41'-10") for her third All-American honor of the day.
Slack now has eight All-American awards in the last calendar year, with three national championships. In those eight events, she has finished no worse than third. She finished third in the pentathlon and triple jump 2014 indoors. Slack won the long jump and heptathlon while finishing third in the triple jump in the 2014 outdoor championships before what she accomplished today.
New for the 2014-2015 school year, a Subway® Student-Athlete of the Week will be chosen every week for the athletic year. Every student-athlete chosen for the weekly award will be eligible to win the Subway Eat Fresh® Student-Athlete of the Year award following the 2014-2015 academic year. While the weekly award will be based on athletic prowess, the yearly award will be bestowed upon an athlete based on success not only on the playing field, but also in the classroom and community involvement.
