Wake Forest Athletics
Sandra Jenkins Profile
5/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 28, 2002
By Sam Walker
Sandra Jenkins learned to crochet from the grandmother with whom she lived while growing up in the small mountain town of Wytheville, Va. It's a hobby she practices even today, although it's perhaps an unusual one for a twenty-something Wake Forest graduate. Creating a baby blanket or afghan is a slow, line-by-line or shape-by-shape process. The enjoyment comes through the process. The product is representative of the many hours of work. Her athletic legacy at Wake Forest is somewhat parallel to her hobby. Jenkins, who threw shot put and discus for the women's track and field team, has left behind very much an athletic career that was built day-by-day and meet-by-meet. The satisfaction came through the process.
Throwing became a part of her life at age 8. "Back when I was growing up, I lived with my grandmother and grandfather and my cousin, Michelle Carter, lived there too," Jenkins said. "She threw shot put in high school, and I would go out in the back yard with her when she would practice. I would retrieve it and try to throw it myself. That's what got me started." It was initially because of Carter's influence that Jenkins started chucking lead balls around the yard, but later the challenge of it wouldn't allow her to stop.
Jenkins is the 1998 Virginia state high school champion in the shot put with a top mark of 38 feet, 7.5 inches. She placed third at the state level in discus with a mark of 105-7 that same year. The well-rounded National Honor Society student also lettered in volleyball and basketball at George Wythe High School. And as a multi-sport athlete, she knew she wanted to continue her athletic career but was unsure of which sport she should try to compete in at the collegiate level.
"I had already planned to come to Wake Forest, but I definitely had to sit down and think about what I wanted to do," Jenkins said. "I talked to the basketball coach and the volleyball coach, and they told me it would be really competitive. What really made the difference was I had come off a good year in track where I had won the state and broken my school record, so I decided to stick with track."
Jenkins talked to then coach Francie Goodridge, who told her she could give it a shot. She was told when practice started and given a chance to make the team, but at that time the Wake Forest women's track program was primarily focused on distance running. Field events were really an afterthought, so Jenkins and her talents weren't exactly welcomed with open arms. But the day she met with Goodridge, she saw posted on the wall in the track and field offices the school record in shot put, and she set her sights on placing her name on that list.
Under the leadership of coach Annie Schweiter Bennett, the Wake Forest track and field programs are now focused on becoming a more complete and well-rounded track and field programs. So Jenkins has been part of the evolution of the program, and she's set the bar for those who follow her.
As a junior Jenkins set the Wake Forest record in shot put with a throw of 45-8.5 at the ACC Championships. That, she says, is the defining moment in her four-year career, the accomplishment of which she is most proud. It set a new standard, put her name into the Wake Forest record books and up on the office wall and left something for the next generation of throwers to shoot for.
"I always thought I could get it, but it was a surprise when it happened because I PRed (personal record) by almost two feet that day," Jenkins said. "Two feet is a pretty big improvement. Leading up it was a pretty gradual progression. I started off throwing 40 feet and worked my way up to 42 and then 43."
This year she finished ninth in the shot put at the ACC Championships with a throw of 45-2.25, and she took eighth in the discus with a mark of 137-4, a personal record and the second-best throw in school history.
"This year was a really good year for me in discus," Jenkins said. "Last year I never threw over 125. My strongest event has always been the shot put, and maybe it was because we practiced with the guys this year where as we didn't last year. But I started feeling what I was supposed to be feeling. I finally got control of my balance, and once I got control of that, I started throwing farther."
The addition of assistant coach John Williams, who specializes in throws, helped Jenkins make serious strides in the final two years of her career. "He's made the biggest difference," Jenkins said. "He came in and I PRed by a little over five feet in the two years he's been here in the shot put and close to 30 feet in the discus. John encourages us in the weight room and spots us, and he's really supportive, too. He understands that sometimes you're going to have a bad day, and that's important to have in a coach."
Jenkins' throwing days are over. The wear and tear of the sport has caused her third, fourth, and fifth lumbar to compress and shift to the left, prompting trips to a chiropractor. Her degree in health and exercise science was presented at commencement exercises May 20, and medical school might work its way into her near future. But her past accomplishments remain recorded right there on the wall in the track and field offices as a school record-holder. Jenkins says she has no regrets but wishes she had a couple more years of eligibility now that Wake Forest track and field has grown into a total program. She still wants to enjoy the challenge of the step-by-step, day-by-day process.
