Jazmine Fenlator

When Jazmine Fenlator was breaking Wayne Valley (NJ) High School track and field records, she had many options as to where she would continue her athletic and academic career.

“I wanted to find the best fit, academically and athletically, and Rider was it,” said Fenlator, a senior journalism major with a 3.5 grade point average. She was recently named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Academic team.

“I was looking for graphic design, and Rider had a fairly new multi-media department with very good instructors,” Fenlator said. “I had heard good things about the communication department and the internship possibilities, so I chose Rider.”

Rider Bronc track and field head coach Rob Pasquariello was happy about her decision. “From where we were six years ago when I started at Rider to where we are now is like night and day,” said Pasquariello, who was recently named the MAAC Women’s Indoor Track Coach of the Year. “Jazmine has been a key part of the success that we have had and the things we have been able to accomplish.”

The Rider women’s indoor track and field team won the MAAC Championship this winter, the first indoor title for the Broncs after 10 consecutive runner-up finishes. “It (winning the team title) was awesome,” said Fenlator, who was also a member of Rider’s outdoor track team that won a MAAC Championship in 2004. “The seniors remembered the championship we won as freshmen, and we saw this as an opportunity to go out with a bang and we did.”

Fenlator, the 2005-06 Rider female Athlete of the Year, last year was named one of the top 25 performers in the 25-year history of the MAAC. She became Rider’s first-ever Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) champion when she won the ECAC discus in 2005. This winter, she won the MAAC shot put and the 20-pound weight throw and was named the co-winner of the MAAC Most Outstanding Performer Award for field events. She also set a conference championship meet and Rider team record in the shot put.

“The conference (Most Outstanding Performer) award is great,” Fenlator said. “When you have the support of your team cheering and helping you, all you have to worry about is performing your best, and if you don’t the next runner will pick you up and do their best.

“That enthusiasm and support is what made this such a great team. Achieving that award against some of the top competition around is such an honor for me as well as for the team and Rider University.”

After Rider, Fenlator has her sights set on becoming an art director at an advertising firm and later, an entrepreneur. She also plans to coach track and field and to enter the Olympics. “I have a lot of work to do for the 2008 Olympics. If I don’t make the 2008 Olympic team, 2012 is an option,” Fenlator said.

“As a freshman, I came in and just wanted to soak up all the learning I could and get a base for competing on the Division I level to broaden my athletic experience,” Fenlator said. “In high school, I set some school records so my initial goals here were to set Rider team records. As my career went on, my goal was to help put Rider on the map. Even though we are a small Division I team, we still have talent.”

“Track is such an individual kind of team sport,” Pasquariello added. “Everybody looks to Jazmine to lead us with her performances and she usually does not disappoint.”

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