FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (3/9/13) - Junior Sharika Nelvis of the Arkansas State University women's track and field team capped off a productive indoor season at the 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday (March 8) with placings both in the 200 meters and the long jump.  

The 2013 NCAA-I Championships, which hosted by the University of Arkansas and held at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the UA campus.

Nelvis, the 2013 Sun Belt Conference's (SBC) Most Outstanding Women's Indoor Track Performer, jumped a distance of 5.72m to claim 16th place.  Andrea Geubelle of Kansas won the event with a jump of 6.55m.

In the 200-meters, Nelvis registered a time of 23.53 in the preliminaries to garner 11th place as the top eight sprinters best the best times qualified for the finals.  LSU's Kimberly Duncan would go onto capture first-place honors in the finals as she clocked a 22.58 time.  

"The long jump didn't go as well as we wanted but that is really not her event," said ASU head coach Jim Patchell.  " I think she has long jumped a total of five times in her career and we have not worked on it that much. We put her in it at the conference meets for points and didn't expect her to qualify for nationals.

"The 200 went a little better for Sharika. She came in ranked 13th nationally and finished 11th in the prelims.  Sharika also ran a personal best so we were pleased with that," added Patchell.

Nelvis turned in a noteworthy indoor campaign by attaining first-team All-Sun Belt Conference (SBC) honors with first-place finishes in four events at the 2013 SBC Indoor Conference meet (Feb. 25-26) in Jonesboro, Ark. A three-time (1/9, 1/30 and 2/13) SBC Indoor Track Athlete of the Week selection this season, Nelvis was the 2013 SBC Women's Indoor Track Championships' top scorer with a 40.5 points total en route to helping the Red Wolves claim the 2013 Sun Belt Indoor Championship title. 

Arkansas State will open its 2013 outdoor season on March 22-23 at the LSU Tiger Relays in Baton Rouge, La.