Teams: Men's Track & Field: Press Releases

Date: Saturday, May 27, 2006

TUFTS' FRED JONES WINS NCAA DIV. III TRIPLE JUMP TITLE
Jumbo Cat Beck is second in NCAA Women's 1,500 Meters

MEDFORD – Junior Fred Jones (Northfield, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon) of the Tufts University men's track & field team won the triple jump at the 2006 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships hosted by Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois on Saturday.

Jones broke his own school record with a jump of 49 feet, 7 inches (15.11 meters) on his third and final attempt in the first round. The distance held up in the final round, giving Jones the win amongst a field of 17 qualifiers for the event. Junior Nathan Adkins from the University of Redlands (Calif.) was second with a 49' 1" jump.

Second in the triple jump at the NCAA meet last spring and third as a freshman in 2004, Jones scored 10 points for the Jumbos to lead them to a tie for 20th place overall at the national meet. Sophomore teammate Dan Marcy (Middletown, NY/St. Paul' s) also scored and earned All-American honors in the triple jump, reaching 47' 9 3/4" for sixth place.

Junior Cat Beck (Brookline, NH/Brookline-Hollis) nearly matched the feat for the Tufts women's team earlier on Saturday. Her time of 4:29.08 in the 1,500 meters was barely a second behind national champion Amber Druien of North Central College, who won in 4:28.03. She had run a 4:29.69 in the preliminaries to reach the final, where should would gain All-American status. Sophomore teammate Katy O' Brien (North Easton, MA/Oliver Ames) was also entered in the 1,500, but did not reach the final after a 4:42.53 finish in the preliminaries.

Beck also competed in the 5,000 meters on Saturday and took ninth with a 17:40.51 time.

On Friday, Jumbo tri-captain Becca Ades (Shelburne, VT/Champlain Valley Union) finished seventh to score and earn All-American honors in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a 10:47.64 time. The 10 points scored by the Tufts women placed them tied for 28th at the meet.

On the men's side, senior tri-captain Jason Galvin (Norwell, MA/Norwell) competed in the hammer throw on Friday. He did not qualify for the final with his best heave of 170' 8" (52.02m). Sophomore Chris Kantos (Apple Valley, MN/Eastview) qualified to run in the men's 10 K, but had to withdraw due to an injury.

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