COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Mountain West Conference has selected junior Cowgirl Ja'la Henderson as its Women's Field Athlete of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday. She is the second Cowgirl to win a weekly award from the conference during the 2017-18 indoor season, joining sprinter Jordan Edmonds.
 
The award comes after Henderson demolished the UW women's indoor triple jump record with an astonishing leap of 42 feet, 11 inches at the Colorado Invitational on Friday. It was just the third collegiate appearance in the event for the Dayton, Ohio, native. She has broken the school record in two of her three appearances, shattering her previous personal best of 41-1.5 by nearly two feet on Friday. Henderson added a runner-up finish in the long jump for good measure, leaping a season-best 19-6. She has topped the field in six of her seven jumps competitions this season.
 
After the 42-11 jump, Henderson has added nearly three feet onto the UW record for the women's indoor triple jump in the span of three meets. She holds the conference lead by over a foot, and her performance has put her in prime position to contend for a qualifying berth to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships as she is currently tied for 14^th place nationally in the event. Further, Henderson's mark was the seventh-best for a D-1 woman for competitions during the week of Jan. 29 through Feb. 4, joining athletes from Nebraska and Kentucky in the top seven.
 
The award marks the first career weekly accolade from the conference for the 2016 MW women's indoor long jump champion. Previously a long jump specialist by trade, Henderson now looks to contribute for the Pokes in both jumps events at the conference meet before a potential trip to the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Henderson will lead a group of Wyoming sprinters, jumpers and throwers to Albuquerque, N.M., for the Don Kirby Invitational this weekend at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the site of the 2018 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships. Meanwhile, the UW distance crew will head to Seattle, Wash., for the Husky Classic. Both meets will take place on Friday and Saturday. Follow @wyo_track on twitter to keep an eye on more record-breaking performances from the Wyoming tracksters.