Nakeisha Jones, Women's Track and Field
It didn't take long for freshman jumper Nakeisha Jones to make her presence known in the indoor track world. In just her first meet of the season, the rookie provisionally qualified for Nationals in the triple jump during the Dartmouth Relays in Hanover, N.H., Sunday.
Her 11.64-meter jump put her in elite company on the Jumbo squad, as, now, just she and sophomore distance runner Stephanie McNamara — who qualified in the 5,000-meter run Dec. 6 — are the only two who have provisionally qualified for Nationals. Not only did the mark yield a third-place finish at the weekend's meet, but it also gave her possession of the second-longest triple jump in Div. III this season.
Jones also earned a top-10 finish in the 60-meter hurdles by running sub-9.8-second trials in both the preliminaries and semifinals. Her top time of 9.72 seconds converts to a 9.18-second qualifier for the 60-meter hurdles.
For a team hoping to post impressive field results in addition to its always-solid running performances, Jones' performance proves promising as Tufts heads into its third meet of the season Saturday at home.
Scott Barchard, Ice Hockey
Following on the heels of Tufts' all-time saves leader James Kalec (LA ‘08), freshman netminder Scott Barchard knew he had some big skates to fill. And after opening the 2008-09 campaign with a 1-3 stint, the ice hockey team has since won five of its last six contests due in large part to the first year's solid — and at times spectacular — play. Midway through his rookie campaign, Barchard boasts a .923 save percentage, a marked improvement over last season's team save percentage of .872.
Barchard was particularly effective in back-to-back wins over the Johnson and Wales Wildcats Jan. 6 and the Norwich Cadets Jan. 9, surrendering just one goal and recording an astounding 67 saves across the two victories. The matchup against the Wildcats, an 8-0 drubbing, marked the first shut-out of his young career and was the first time the Jumbos have blanked an opponent since February 2004.
Barchard, who has allowed just nine goals in as many games this season, also put forth impressive performances in victories over St. Anselm Dec. 5 and New England College Dec. 6, the former of which included a 22-save effort to lift the Jumbos to their first win against the Hawks since November 2001. Even in the team's most recent game – a 4-1 loss against St. Michael's Saturday – Barchard still managed to post 23 saves.
The first-year goalkeeper and the rest of the Jumbos will next take the ice against Skidmore on Friday with the hopes of defeating the Thoroughbreds for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
