As most of the men's track and field team prepares for the impending start of the outdoor season, the Jumbos will send one representative to compete at the sport's highest level this weekend: the 2007 NCAA Div. III Championships, held at the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
Senior tri-captain Fred Jones will don the Jumbo brown and blue, competing against the nation's best as he looks to end the indoor season with a victory. The Jumbo track star will compete in both the long and triple jumps this weekend, and no matter how impressive his performances have been this season, there's no chance of predicting how tough the field will be this weekend.
"I hope he can perform as well as they can," coach Ethan Barron said in an e-mail to the Daily. "We just have to let the cards fall were they may."
And while the competition will certainly test Jones' skills, he certainly has the experience to cope with it.
"The competition is always strong," Barron said. "[It's] some of the fiercest we'll see all year. The important thing to remember is that every athlete in the meet goes up against the same competition and most are looking at you as some of the fierce competition."
Jones has been nothing short of dominant this year, consistently demonstrating why he is one of the team's indisputable leaders. Entering the meet, he is seeded ninth in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump, qualifying for the triple jump at the Open New England Tournament at Boston University the weekend of Feb. 23 with a leap of 47 feet, 3 3/4 inches, while his nationally qualifying long jump distance of 23 feet, 8 1/2 inches came courtesy of the MIT Invitational held Feb. 10.
But this weekend, he'll have to perform without the support of his teammates, who are training for the imminent outdoor season.
-by Will Karas
