FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 23, 2006 Castle named a finalist for Ken B. Jones Award OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Missouri Southern women's track & field senior Iashia Castle is one of three female finalists for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association's Ken B. Jones Award, the conference announced Monday. In all, six MIAA schools are represented on the list of finalists for the award, presented annually to the conference's student-athletes of the year. This marks the 13th year for the award, which is based on athletic accomplishments, academics and community/campus service. It is named in honor of the man who served as the MIAA's first full-time commissioner for 16 years. Jones retired in 1997, and passed away in May 2004. Castle, a sprinter/jumper from Kansas City, Mo., was an All-American this year in indoor track & field with an eighth-place national finish in the triple jump. A seven-time All-MIAA performer in 2006, she is heading to the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships later this week in Emporia, Kan., where she will compete in the triple jump. In the classroom, Castle maintains a 3.935 grade-point average as an accounting and business management major. She was named MSSU's 2006 Accounting Graduate of the Year and the Cox Outstanding Honors Co-Graduate of the Year. The 2006 winner of the E.O. & Virginia Humphrey Award, given each year to MSSU's Most Outstanding Student-Athlete, the Hickman Mills High School graduate has also been highly involved in community service. Castle has volunteered for numerous organizations, including Big Brothers & Big Sisters, Children's Miracle Network and Special Olympics. Castle concluded her MIAA track & field career as a 14-time all-conference honoree. She will be a three-time selection to the MIAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll as well as a three-time academic all-conference selection. In 2005, she was a second-team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection and has been nominated for that award again in 2006. One male and one female are selected as the Ken B. Jones award winners, with the finalists invited to the MIAA Awards Banquet, set for June 1 in Kansas City at the Downtown Marriott Muehlebach Tower. Other women's finalists for the award include Truman State's Sarah Shearman and Central Missouri State's Kristin Anderson, a repeat finalist. The men's finalists are Josh Lamberson (Northwest Missouri State), Ryan Meredith (Pittsburg State) and Brice Garnett (Missouri Western). A 10-member panel of athletics directors, sports information directors, senior women's administrators, and faculty athletics representatives -- including a representative from each school -- selects the winners. To be nominated, a student-athlete must have a 3.00 cumulative grade-point average as of April 1, and complete at least their junior season of eligibility in the 2005-06 academic year. Castle's complete nomination bio appears below: Iashia Castle Senior   Missouri Southern Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field   Kansas City, Mo. Accounting & business management major 3.935 cumulative GPA 2005-06 Athletic Accomplishments: Earned All-America honors in the triple jump during indoor season with an eighth-place finish at the national meet... won MIAA indoor triple jump championship... scored 25.5 points (of team's 88 total) for MSSU at conference indoor championships... also finished as indoor MIAA runner-up in the 400-meter dash and was third in the long jump... ran the anchor leg on MSSU's third-place 4x400-meter relay team at the conference indoor meet... named MIAA Athlete of the Week on Feb. 6 for women's indoor track... during the 2006 indoor season alone, she had five of the school's top eight best-ever marks in the triple jump, including the Nos. 3 & 4 marks (39 feet, 4.5 inches & 39 feet, 4 inches)... joined former MSSU All-American Tongula Walker (who competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Trials) as the only Lions to ever eclipse 39 feet in the triple jump indoors... on MSSU's 2006 indoor performance list (including current MSSU athletes only), she had each of the team's top four 400-meter dash times, five of the top seven (including the top two) long jumps, and each of the top eight triple jump marks... outdoors, was MIAA runner-up in the triple jump... also earned outdoor all-conference honors in the 400 (fifth place) and as the anchor runner on the third-place 4x400-meter relay team... scored 11.5 points (of MSSU's 64.5) at MIAA Outdoor Championships... currently ranks 14th nationally outdoors in the triple jump... on MSSU 2006 outdoor performance list (including current MSSU athletes only, and through 5/10/06), she held each of the top five 400-meter dash times, each of the top four triple jump marks and four of the top eight long jumps... on MSSU's all-time outdoor performance lists, her long jump of 18-7.25 this year from the Wichita State K.T. Woodman Track Classic ranks ninth (Tongula Walker is the only other athlete to appear on that list)... named the 2006 winner of MSSU's E.O. & Virginia Humphrey Award, given annually to the Lions' Student-Athlete of the Year. 2005-06 Academic Accomplishments: A member of MSSU's honors program... named MSSU's 2006 Accounting Major of the Year... named the Cox Outstanding Honors Co-Graduate of the Year at MSSU... earned MSSU's Glenn Dolence Leadership Award... Alpha Chi National Honor Society... Omicron Delta Kappa member... member of the Dean's Honor Roll... will be an MIAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll selection... will be an Academic All-MIAA performer... nominated for CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America  honors. 2005-06 Campus/Community Service: Member of Southern IMPACT... member of Accounting Club... Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member... participated in NCAA Leadership Conference in the summer of 2005... volunteer for Big Brothers & Big Sisters... volunteer for Children's Miracle Network... volunteer for Special Olympics... LEAP Accounting Competition (Feb. 2006)... assisted with September donation collection for those impacted in the gulf coast region by Hurricane Katrina... assisted with MSSU Canned Food Drive. Career Athletic, Academic and Service Accomplishments: Fourteen-time All-MIAA performer in indoor and outdoor track & field (four times in triple jump, four times in 400m, three times in 4x400, three times in long jump)... two-time MIAA outdoor runner-up in triple jump (2005, 2006)... will be a three-time MIAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll selection and a three-time Academic All-MIAA performer... a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII Second-Team selection in 2005... seven-time member of thedean's honor roll... on national dean's list in spring 2003... served as treasurer for Southern IMPACT (Fall 2002-Fall 2004)... part of the school-record-setting MSSU distance medley relay team in 2005... didn't decide to attend MSSU until June following her high school senior year, making it too late to be awarded a scholarship by the honors program -- however, she later become one of the very few to have been offered a scholarship by the honors program after her initial acceptance to the school.