Sha'Keela Saunders (born December 18, 1993) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competes in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. Saunders finished third at the long jump final at the

2017 IAAF Diamond League The 2017 Diamond League was the eighth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It is the first to feature the new championship-style system in wh ...

and

2018 IAAF Diamond League The 2018 Diamond League was the ninth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It is the second edition to feature the new championship-style syst ...

. She represented her country at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japane ...

and won gold at

NACAC Championships The North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships is a continental track and field athletics event organised by the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association. The last of the six IAAF areas to hold a conti ...

Professional career

In Fall 2022, coach Sha'Keela Saunders joined

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

track and field staff.

National championships

University of Kentucky

Sha'Keela Saunders is a 2017

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

Indoor track and field Track and field is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of ...

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

champion. Sha'Keela Saunders earned 13-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors. Sha'Keela Saunders first broke the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

school record in the long jump for the first time en route to a first-place finish at the 2015

Rod McCravy Memorial Track & Field Meet at

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

for Women's Indoor Track and Field. Sha'Keela Saunders set the

school record in the

in in 2017 - a performance thank ranked / placed her in third on the all-time collegiate indoor list. Sha'Keela Saunders improved on the

school record in the

Triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

but in the same meet (2017 SEC Outdoor Championship on

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...

) her teammate Marie Josée Ebwea Bile improved on that record . Saunders was named to the Bowerman Award watch list in 2017.

Prep

Saunders is a 2012 graduate of

Nansemond River High School Nansemond River High School is a public secondary school in Suffolk, Virginia, United States. It opened in September 1990 and originally consisted of students from two of the three former high schools of Suffolk, now middle schools, John F. Kenne ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

References

External links

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IAAF Diamond League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Sha'Keela 1993 births Living people Track and field athletes from Virginia American female long jumpers American female triple jumpers World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States University of Kentucky alumni Sportswomen from Kentucky People from Elizabeth City, North Carolina Sportspeople from Suffolk, Virginia USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games 21st-century American women Kentucky Wildcats women's track and field athletes