Senior Nick Jones took fourth place in the university-college section A discuss throw this weekend at the Texas Relays in Austin, placing Jones at the top of the Division II discuss rankings in this season’s first outdoor contest.

Jones threw for 195 feet, two inches in the fourth round. He finished behind Luke Bryant of Oklahoma, (197-9) Ryan Crouser of Texas, (197-6) and Jason Morgan, an athlete from Jamaica representing Louisiana Tech. (197-4)

Jones was third place going into the finals, after throwing 183-1, 193-2, and 191-9 in the preliminary rounds. In the finals, he threw a 195-5 and 191-2 and following with a foul.

“He’s doing great right now,” head coach Roosevelt Lofton said. “He’s gotten a lot better in shot put since last year.”

The senior from Amarillo also competed in the shot put, finishing in eighth place after throwing five fouls in the preliminary and final rounds. His best throw of the day was 58-8 in the third round. Jacob Thormehlen, a senior from Texas won the event with a 64-1 throw.

After the season-opening Bobbly Lane Invitational at the University of Texas-Arlington last weekend, Jones holds the top Division II spot in the shot put as well, with a throw of 60 feet, 7.25 inches.

“Nick is doing extremely well, and I think his goal would be to win both shot put and discuss in the NCAA nationals this year,” Lofton said. “It’s not going to be easy, especially in shot put. There are others who are throwing just as well or even better than him. But he has owned the discuss competition for the last three years, and is expected to win again”

Jones now claims four NCAA Division II championship titles: three in discuss, and a shot put title from the 2012 indoor meet.

“Nick has a good chance of being the first Division II athlete to win the outdoor national championship in discuss four years in a row,” said Lofton.

In addition to his collegiate career, Jones prepares for a chance to compete on a higher level this summer.

“He is also working towards making the olympic trial in discuss. He is doing really well and is very focused.”