April 9, 2007

Sophomore Rhonda Watkins (Port of Spain, Trinidad/Bishop Anstey HS) of the UCLA women's track & field team was selected as the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for Apr. 2-8.

Watkins, the 2007 NCAA Indoor long jump champion and No. 1-ranked jumper in the world, leaped out to another top world mark with her win in the "A" section of the long jump on Friday at the Texas Relays in Austin. Watkins posted a wind-aided mark of 22-0.25 (6.71m/+3.0 wind) to win the event, out-distancing her nearest competitor by nearly two feet. The mark also set a new Myers Stadium record and Texas Relays meet record. She now holds the top wind-aided mark and non-wind-aided mark in the world this year. Watkins remains the No. 1 jumper in the NCAA this season and maintains her No. 3 spot all-time at UCLA. She also had to run on UCLA's 4x100m relay team in the middle of her competition.

This is Watkins' second UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week honor of the season and of her career.

Also nominated: Haythem Abid, M. Tennis; Krista Colburn, Softball; Brandon Crawford, Baseball; Emily Feher, W. Water Polo; Paul George, M. Volleyball; Darius Savage, M. Track & Field.