Track Athlete Frances Jones

Growing up in Carterville, a small town in the heartland of Southern
Illinois, first year track and field athlete Frances Jones walked on to
Santa Monica College looking to compete after a year and a half of
absence
from the sport.
After some encouragement from her sister, Jones made the decision and
moved
to Southern California. Jones soon started taking online classes
during the
2004 fall semester.
After finding out that SMC had a track and field team Jones soon
contact
Head Coach Eric Barron for an opportunity to run for the Corsairs.
While in junior high school she competed in track. Their was were she
was
encouraged by the high school physical education teacher who worked
with the
junior high students to take up track and field the following year.
At Carterville High she competed in the 100-meter, 200-meter, 800
medley
(Jones ran the third leg, the 200-meter), and 4x800-meter relays. Her
junior year, Jones came took part in Illinois State Competition were
she
placed second in the 100-meter, and fifth in the 200-meter race.
Jones went on to compete throughout her high school career and during
her
senior year broke the high school record in the 200-meter. Soon after
she
broke her own school record.
Following high school Jones headed to Howard University in Washington
DC.
As a walk on for the team she competed in the in-door 60-meter.
Shortly after Jones had to step away from the sport when she found out
she
was pregnant. At the time of her pregnancy she attended John A. Logan.
On
August 29, 2003 Jones gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Ryan Jones.
Some time after Jones journeyed back home to Carterville. While home
she
visited her old high school teammates and saw that they were still
competing
in track. "I went back and saw my old friends, that's when I new I had
to
get back into track and field," said Jones.
Once she contacted Barron, she began to work out with the team during
the
winter session. When she passed her physical and had all the
eligibility
requirements needs Jones was part of SMC's track and field squad.
At SMC Jones competes in 4x100-meter relays, 4x400-meter relays,
100-meter,
and the 200-meter race.
She will be part of the 4x100-meter relay team that consists of Zora
Golcevska, Sandra Hendricks, and Lisha Burch. They will compete in
this
Saturday's State Championships in Sacramento. Jones almost made it to
the
championship in the 4x400-meter relays, but missed out by one place.
"I'm not really a 400-meter runner, well three out of the four girls on
the
team are not 400-meter runners, and we almost made it to the
championships,"
said Jones.
This will be Jones last semester at SMC as she plans on leaving in late
June
and going back to Howard University for the fall.