Eastern Illinois University Athletics

2009:  Tabbed for the Most Improved Award alongside fellow teammate Emily Harrison... set new, or tied, single-game highs in seven of the eight statistical categories... including more than doubling her previous season-high try, assist, points, and runs-over-20-yards numbers... finished ranked in the EIU career Top 15 for points scored, trys, assists, tackles, runs-over-20-yards, and steals at tackle... with a top tally of 24 total steals at tackle to rank sixth-best.

2008: Ashley played in the last nine games of the season notched new personal highs in nearly every stat column... including six solo tackles against Kansas and four steals-at-tackle versus Ball State... her 15 career runs-over-20-yards places her in on the all-time list at No. 8... 

2007: Playing in all ten games, Ashley had two assists versus Ohio State, four solo stops versus West Chester, and also added two assisted tackles in that historic contest... had one five-point try on the season in the win over the Buckeyes and four total runs over twenty yards.... 

2006: Ashley saw action in all ten games... recorded five trys for 25 points... added two assists and steals at tackle... had 12 total tackles, half of which were unassisted... her nine runs over 20 yards put her in the season top five.... 

HS: Attended the King Edward VII Queen Mary School in England, Ashley played netball, hockey and rugby... has extensive rugby experience as a member of the Northwest England squad her sophomore and junior years and appointment to the England Under-18 team... named the rugby ‘Player of the Year’.... 

PERSONAL: Majoring in communications, while minoring in military science... daughter of John & Barbara Jenkins in Elizabethtown, Kentucky... reason she choose to attend EIU was “because EIU has the best rugby in the country”.... 

FUN FACTS: ‘AJ’, or ‘Jinx’, chose EIU “because it was the only Division I women’s rugby team and coach Graziano had great communication with my mother and myself before I arrived here”... her hidden talents include singing, drawing, decorating, and photography... since coming to EIU she has learned “how to budget my time, so taht I can do what is important to me”... Ashley’s favorite professional sports team is the All Blacks New Zealand Rugby squad... her favorite location on campus is on top of the O’Brien Stadium press box, “because it has great views”... her advice to a younger athlete is “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”... while “life isn’t measured by the breathes you take, but by the moments that take your breath away” is one of her favorite quotes to live by.... 

COACH GRAZIANO SAYS: “Ashley moved to a new position for the 2008 campaign and her performance was solid... she’s an excellent defender and tackler, while her offense improved with each game... her challenge facing the off-season is to prepare for a new position again in 2009... she’s be asked to fill the role as a big time scorer and with her hard, fearless running style, I have no doubt she will deliver for her team.”

CAREER HIGHS: TRYS: 3 (2x), last vs. Midwest College All-Stars (11/14/09) ... ASSISTS: 3 vs. Missouri (10/17/09) ... CONVERSIONS: 2-7 at Southern Illinois (10/31/09) ... SOLO TACKLES: 9 at Minnesota (10/3/09) ... ASSISTED TACKLES: 3 (4x), last vs. Illinois (10/24/09) ... POINTS: 15 (2x), last vs. Midwest College All-Stars (11/14/09) ... RUNS OVER 20-YARDS: 3 (2x), last vs. Midwest College All-Stars (11/14/09) ... STEALS AT TACKLE: 4 vs. Ball State (10/4/08)