Ashley Hunter
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Midwest Independent Conference (MIC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women's gymnastics conference for gymnasts in Division I, II and III.
The conference has been ongoing since its creation in 1991, and draws women gymnasts from all over the country.
One of Monticello's own former athletes, Jenny Jackson, was recently named with honor for the MIC's Scholar-Athlete Team.
Currently, Jackson is a student and athlete at Centenary College, which is located in Shreveport, La.
At Centenary, Jackson is studying biology and business, has made her college's Dean List multiple times and is a member of Tri-Beta – a biology honors society at Centenary.
Prior to her gymnastics career and collegiate study at Centenary, Jackson was a student at Aucilla Christian School and began her gymnastics career at a Perry, Fla. gym, where she trained under Lisa Arrowood and Mike Romano.
Jackson has been stunting her way to success since she began her gymnast training at the age of four, which was when – Jackson says – her parents enrolled her in classes after Jackson continued to “flip and leap around on furniture” at home.
With her trainers' guidance, her dedication to the sport and her natural talent, Jackson found success in gymnastics, and ended up catching the eye of one of the United States' few colleges that host a gymnast program. To put it into perspective, Jackson says there are only a little over 80 colleges in the United States that have all-division college gymnastics programs; she needed to compete against the other gymnasts in the nation to capture the attention of these recruiters and coaches.
Before she even enrolled at Centenary, Jackson had already competed and placed at several state and national championships.
To make to MIC team, gymnasts must earn a 3.25 grade point average or higher during their fall 2019 collegiate semester.
"Our ladies are student-athletes, and this show’s how hard they work in the classroom as well as the gym. I am so proud of them for their academic accomplishments, and this shows the culture of our team is centered on academics first. Our number one team goal is always to focus on our team GPA, and this means each and every person on the team has to be dedicated to making their academics a priority. I think we've accomplished that goal this year!” said Centenary Head Coach Jackie Fain. "A Centenary education can be challenging; our professors expect excellence, the same as our athletic coaches. Balancing these expectations for both academics and athletics can be difficult. Our ladies work extremely hard at doing both with fineness, and the results are evident".
Jackson's arrival on the Scholar-Athlete Team was announced during MIC's postseason awards and honors presentation on Tuesday, March 24.
Jenny Jackson is the daughter of Jefferson County locals, David and Lisa Jackson.
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