Cowgirls headed home from Austin with six All-American honors

Austin, Texas – Jerayah Davis ended her incredible senior season and her stellar Cowgirl career by earning three Honorable Mention All-America honors in three different events on Thursday. Ja'la Henderson, Shayla Howell and Jordan Edmonds picked up one Honorable Mention All-America honor each.

"I'm really proud of Jerayah for everything she has accomplished during her career at Wyoming," said UW head track & field coach Bryan Berryhill. "She has won conference titles, broken school records and was the first Cowgirl to ever qualify for three events to the NCAA Championships. She is ending her career at Wyoming as one of the best to ever wear the Cowgirl uniform."

The first race of the day was the women's 4x100-meter relay, and the Cowgirls raced in the third heat. Davis ran the first leg and passed the baton to Henderson, who ran the back stretch. Henderson passed it off to Howell for the turn, and Edmonds ran the final leg, as they finished in 44.77 seconds, good for 23^rd overall.

"'The Squad' came out with two defined goals for the relay: to potentially break a school record, and to finish higher than our rank coming in," said associate head coach Quincy Howe. "We accomplished one of those goals and earned ourselves Honorable Mention All-America. This group of ladies have put themselves in a class that has only been eclipsed by another group of All-Americans. We should all be proud of their efforts and accomplishments."

The quartet earned Honorable Mention All-America honors. It is the third outdoor All-America honor for Henderson, and the first for the rest of the team. Additionally, Howell is the first freshman Cowgirl to earn an All-America honor in track & field since Sharon Larrier in 2005, and she is the third overall. Larrier ran on the 4x400m relay team that finished seventh in the nation that season. Andrea Batt finished fifth in the javelin in 2001.

Davis' busy day continued in the 100m dash national semifinals, where she raced in the third and final heat. Out of the blocks, the runner next to her stumbled and fell, but Davis kept her composure and finished well. She ended in 20^th place with a time of 11.46, earning her second Honorable Mention All-America honor of the day.

Davis then competed in the last event of her collegiate career, the long jump national finals. She leapt 19 feet, 4.25 inches on her first attempt, and was in 15^th place following the first round. She was a centimeter shorter in the second round, and moved down to 20^th. On her final jump of the day, she improved by two inches to 19-6.25, and she ended the event in 23^rd place to earn her third Honorable Mention All-America accolade of the night.

"Jerayah experienced the two extremes of sport," Howe said. "The absolute height of being a conference champion and qualifying for the NCAA Championships, something only rivaled in our sport by the world and Olympic championships, and the absolute low of a jump that wasn't her best at the biggest meet of her career. We should all remember that one day and one meet should not define a season or a career, and Jerayah has had an amazing career for the Cowgirls."

Action continues for Wyoming on Saturday, when Henderson competes in the triple jump at 4:40 p.m. (MT).

NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships
June 6, 2019 | Austin, Texas
Mike A. Myers Stadium

Cowgirls Results
100m Dash Semifinals: 20. Jerayah Davis, 11.46
4x100m Relay Seminfinals: 23. Wyoming (Jerayah Davis, Ja'la Henderson, Shayla Howell, Jordan Edmonds), 44.77
Long Jump: 23. Jerayah Davis, 19-6.25