Ebwea-Bile Carries Momentum Into SEC Championships

LEXINGTON, Ky.- This weekend, Kentucky track and field standout Marie-Josée Ebwea-Bile will compete at the SEC indoor championships in College Station, Texas. Ebwea-Bile has had an outstanding season thus far and plans to boost her national rankings while doing her part to lead the team in its first championship meet of the year.

Ebwea-Bile, a junior from Paris, France, competes in the long jump and triple jump for UK. She currently holds the Kentucky record in the triple jump. Her breakthrough came at the 2017 NCAA outdoor triple jump where she claimed the silver medal, a key factor in UK’s fourth-place team finish.

This season she’s leaping even further, including a triple jump of 45’1.75″/13.76m, which ranks second nationally.
 
The McCravy Memorial, the team’s final indoor home meet, was a huge one for the Wildcats. Both the UK men’s and women’s teams claimed team titles. Ebwea-Bile leapt to personal bests in winning both the long jump and triple jump. This success earned her two PR’s as well as national top-10 marks in each event. Ebwea-Bile, and teammate Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, were top scorers for the UK women’s team, winning two events each with 20 points apiece.
 
“It’s such a pleasure to score for my team,” Ebwea-Bile said. “I really wanted to score in triple jump, so I can give them 20 points. We deserve it, we work so hard to give them a lot of points. It’s just a pleasure for me.”

Ebwea-Bile surpassed her previous career best by a significant margin in the long jump, reaching a mark at 21’0.75″/6.42m. This score ranks No. 4 on the all-time UK indoor list and sixth nationally.
 
“I’m just really happy. I did not expect it, and it’s a big surprise for me,” Ebwea-Bile said. “I’m just getting ready to you know, be a better athlete, jump farther, and perform well the way that my coach has prepared me to because he deserves it.”

Speaking of her coach, UK head coach Edrick Floreal is a notable long and triple jump coach, in addition to the world-class hurdlers and sprinters he’s mentored. He’s won five NCAA triple jump titles and four team titles as an athlete and was also a competitor in the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympic Games.
 
While this season has already been an impressive one for Ebwea-Bile and the team, the goal for this weekend’s meet is to continue making statements for Kentucky. Ebwea-Bile and the Wildcats hope that this weekend’s meet will set the groundwork for a strong championship campaign.
 
The SEC indoor championships begin this Saturday and conclude on Sunday. The event will take place at the Gilliam indoor stadium in College Station, Texas. The meet will be aired on SEC Network starting at 3:55 p.m. on Saturday and 6 p.m. on Sunday.