FRISCO, Texas - Nicholls State University senior distance runner Lauren Jones picked up the first Southland Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Week award of the 2011 indoor season, the league office announced today.

Jones earned the award after shattering the school's 5,000 m record at the Leonard Hilton Invitational on Friday.  Jones bettered her own school record by nearly a half minute, clocking in at 17:57.10, 28.52 seconds better than her previous school record of 18:25.62 which she set at the 2010 Southland Conference Championships at the University of Oklahoma.  Jones won the event handily, as Rice's Johanna Ohm claimed a distant second place.  Jones had a 16.18 second cushion on Ohm, who clocked in at 18:13.28.