Teams: Women's Track & Field: Schedule & Results

COLLEGE WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD RESULTS
NCAA Division 3 Championships
Friday-Saturday, March 13-14, 2009
At Terre Haute, IN

Final Results

2009 DMR Champions (l-r) Amy Wilfert, Halsey Stebbins, Jackie Ferry and Stephanie McNamara (photo courtesy of Rose-Hulman)

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Tufts University women's indoor track & field team's distance medley relay is the NCAA Division 3 national champion for the second straight year after the 2009 Jumbo foursome of sophomore Amy Wilfert (Westborough, MA), senior Halsey Stebbins (Chicago, IL), senior tri-captain Jackie Ferry (Studio City, CA) and sophomore Stephanie McNamara (North Attleborough, MA) ran an 11:46.88 time at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Friday night.

The Tufts team edged University of St. Thomas at the finish line by 0.08 seconds. The Tommie foursome crossed in 11:46.96. The Jumbos entered the NCAA's as the top seed in the event after running an automatic qualifying time of 11:47.96 to win the ECAC Division III Indoor Championships title at home last Friday. They did not disappoint, running even faster at the NCAA meet to win Tufts women's track & field's 15th individual or relay national championship.

Last year in Ohio, McNamara ran the 1,200-meter lead-off leg of a Tufts DMR including Kaleigh Fitzpatrick, Katy O'Brien and Catherine Beck that captured the 2008 NCAA title with an 11:46.79 time. At the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships, the Tufts DMR ran a school-record 11:35.54 to finish as the national runner-up. This year's foursome established the team's recent dominance in the event.

The back-to-back DMR titles continue the legacy of national champions established by Tufts women's track. Dating back to Vera Stenhouse's eight national titles from 1989-91, Jumbos have now won 15 titles at NCAA Championship indoor and outdoor events.

Coach Kristen Morwick's team had two other outstanding performances at the 2009 national championship meet. McNamara came back on Saturday to finish as the runner-up in the 5,000 meters for All-American honors. Her 17:02.76 time was second only to Elise Tropiano from Amherst, who won the national championship with a 16:58.84 finish. McNamara's time was more than 24 seconds better than her qualifying time (17:26.91), which had her seeded 13th entering the race.

Steph McNamara edges University of St. Thomas's Katie Theisen at the finish line to win the DMR (photo courtesy of Rose-Hulman)

Also on Saturday, Tufts first-year Nakeisha Jones (Boston, MA) had the best triple jump during the preliminary round with a 39'3 1/4" (11.97m). That was her personal best and tied the season-best for NCAA Division 3. Though Jones matched that distance in the final, three other competitors went beyond it. Jones took fourth place for All-America, finishing behind event champion Akeye Aimable from Wartburg (39'6"/12.04m), Caitlin Schetter of Wisconsin LaCrosse (39'5"/12.01m) and Mickey Jusme from Wheaton (39'3 3/4"/11.98m).

With their first, second and fourth place finishes, Tufts scored 23 points at the meet. That took fifth place out of 68 teams that scored at the meet and was the best finish by a New England or Northeast team. It's the second straight top 10 finish for the Jumbos, following last season's sixth-place effort. The two All-American performances give McNamara six in her young career (three indoor, two cross country, one outdoor). Wilfert, Stebbins, Ferry and Jones earned the first All-American awards of their careers.

On Friday, Tufts first-year high jumper Dayorsha Collins (Boston, MA) tied for 11th place. She cleared 5'1 1/4" (1.56m) in her first national championship appearance.

►2009 NCAA Div. 3 Indoor Track & Field Championships Website

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