By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- She arrived at the NCAA Division 3 Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships last week with a determined approach.

Bridgewater State University senior high jumper Serenity Sands (East Bridgewater, Mass.) had set a goal to earn All-American honors to cap off a successful winter season.

She had already earned Division 3 All-New England, All-Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) and All-New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) honors heading into the national meet as the No. 3 seed.

And Sands achieved that All-American goal by turning in the best performance of her career on Saturday afternoon in Virginia Beach, Va.

Sands tied three other women for the best jump at 5 feet, 8.5 inches, breaking her own BSU record of 5 feet, 7.25 inches set earlier this season.

Through the tiebreaker process, Sands placed fourth behind Grace Alley and Sarah Hoskins, both of Loras College in Iowa, and Elizabeth Barre of Carnegie Mellon University of Pittsburgh. Alley and Hoskins had hit 5 feet, 8.5 inches on their first attempts while Barre and Sands achieved that height on their third tries.

"It was awesome," said Sands. "It was very competitive, which I knew it would be, and it drove everyone.

"It was surreal (becoming an All-American). I just remember always wanting to be one. That was always the goal. But even now, it still doesn't feel real."

The U.S Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) made it official on Monday, announcing the men's and women's first and second-team All-American teams, and Sands was included on that list.

The top eight finishers earn spots on the first team and the next eight are on the second team.

Sands is the first BSU woman to be named an All-American for indoor track & field since Jayci Andrews won the NCAA championship in the 60-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 8.68 seconds at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston on March 9, 2019.

An East Bridgewater High graduate, Sands was making her first appearance at the NCAA indoor meet after competing in 2022 and 2023 at the outdoor championships.

"It just demonstrates that all my hard work and everything that I put into it, it all paid off," said Sands, a psychology major who graduates in 2025. "To see it on paper, it is satisfying.

"Yes, it was definitely all worth it. I pretty much tested my limits and I feel like I'm surpassing them."

Following graduation from high school, Sands did not enroll at BSU until a year later, and she did not compete in track for the Bears as a freshman in the 2020-21 seasons.

She placed 13th in the high jump at the national outdoor meet in 2022 and was 21st at the nationals last spring while dealing with an ankle injury.

But Sands was in a groove from the start this winter, tying the BSU record of 5-7 (held by her jumps coach Samantha Richner) in the second meet of the season and then breaking that mark (5-7.25) at the Tufts Cupid Challenge on Feb. 3.

She won the MASCAC title and placed second at the NEIAAA meet leading up to the NCAAs.

"It was so exciting," said BSU head coach Christine Kloiber. "It was thrilling to watch her. She's developed a lot physically, but you can't do it without having that confidence in yourself.

"She knows that she can make this happen, and to be at the nationals she did what she had to do to make it happen."

Sands had a total of 15 attempts during the NCAAs, and on each of the last three converted heights, she stayed in the competition on her third and final tries.

In the end, Alley, Hoskins, Barre and Sands were the last four competitors standing, all with jumps of 5 feet, 8.5 inches. After Alley, Hoskins and Barre missed at 5 feet, 9.75 inches, Sands had one last chance to clear that height, which would have made her the national champion.

"It's funny," said Sands. "I had talked to my coach a few days earlier and said that imagine if I'm the last one to go, going for the last jump to be a national champion.

"That's the exact scenario that I talked about and it came true. It was really exciting to be at the cusp of it."

Sands will return to action when the Bears' outdoor season begins on March 23 with the BSU Bears Invitational.

After taking this week off, Sands will resume working out on Monday and has her sights set on going back to the NCAAs on Memorial Day Weekend in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"Being an All-American, it's definitely a confidence booster," said Sands. "It makes me realize there's a lot more on the horizon for me this season. I'm already antsy to get going.

"To see that I was the same height as the first-place (finisher) shows that I could do that, be a national champion."