Jeomi Maduka isn't a household name, but that could change as the
two-sport star is about to do something not even Jackie Joyner Kersee
or Marion Jones accomplished.
The Cornell junior is believed to be the first woman to be an indoor
All-American in track and field and play in the NCAA basketball
tournament in the same season.
Though Joyner Kersee, a legendary UCLA star, and Jones, a standout
at North Carolina, competed in the same sports, not even they can list
Maduka's feat on their resumes.
While track is definitely her better sport - the 6-foot-2 Maduka has
already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the long jump - she
wouldn't want to give up basketball.
"I'm excited about the rest of the basketball season as I'm all
about improving,'' said Maduka, who was the Ivy League Player of the
Year, averaging 14.3 points for the Big Red. "I didn't start playing
competitively until eighth grade. I've been doing track for a much
longer time as my parents always enrolled me in track clubs.''