Teams: Women's Track & Field: Press Releases

Monday, March 8, 2010

Sophomore Nakeisha Jones is the favorite in the triple jump

JONES, WILERT QUALIFY FOR NCAA TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEDFORD -- Sophomore Nakeisha Jones (Boston, MA) and junior Amy Wilfert (Westborough, MA) of the Tufts University women's track & field team will make return trips to the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships this weekend (Mar. 12-13) at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

Jones is the #1 seed in the triple jump, which will take place on Saturday (Mar. 13) beginning at 9:45 am (EST). Her qualifying distance of 39'2 1/2" (11.95m) was recorded at the All-New England Championships hosted by Boston University on February 27. Last season at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships, Jones was fourth for All-American honors. Her distance was 39'3 1/4" (11.97m). Jones was also an Outdoor All-American last spring, coming in third at NCAA's with a distance of 39'5 3/4" (12.03m).

Wilfert enters the 2010 NCAA's as the ninth seed in the mile run. Her time of 4:59.46 (converted from 4:58.56) was also set at BU during the All-New England Championships. The preliminaries for the mile will be held on Friday (Mar. 12) at 4:20 pm, with the finals scheduled for Saturday at 2:10 pm. Last year at the NCAA Indoor meet, Wilfert ran the lead-off 1,200-meter leg of the distance medley relay that won the national championship for Tufts, earning herself an All-American honor. She also qualified for the NCAA Outdoor meet in the 1,500 meters.

Senior co-captain Andrea Ferri (Dracut, MA) and classmate Logan Crane (Portland, ME) just missed qualifying for the NCAA's this week. The national committee took 7.26 seconds for the 55-meter dash, and Crane ran 7.28 to miss by one spot. Seventeen athletes were taken in the pentathlon, and Ferri was ranked 18th.

►2010 NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships website

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