Women's Track & Field | Freshman Jones hits NCAA mark in first-ever college meet

    Before the season began, the women's track and field team expected big things from freshman jumper Nakeisha Jones. As a senior in high school, Jones took home both Massachusetts and New England titles in the triple jump.
    But the squad didn't expect to see Jones provisionally qualify for Nationals in her first meet of the season at Sunday's Dartmouth Relays in Hanover, N.H.
    "It's exceptional, really, for her to be able to do that, especially this early in the season," senior tri-captain Jackie Ferry said. "I didn't expect her to be this good so soon, so I'm really impressed … We're all really looking forward to seeing what she's going to be able to do later in the season when things really start coming together."
    With a leap of 11.64 meters, Jones joined sophomore distance runner Stephanie McNamara — who surpassed the provisional mark in the 5,000-meter run at the season-opening Husky Carnival at Northeastern on Dec. 6 — as the only Jumbos to have hit NCAA qualifiers thus far in the young season. Jones' jump currently ranks as the second best in Div. III this year and earned her a third place showing in the event at Dartmouth.
    "I was really nervous for this meet because everybody else had competed already, but this was my first meet," Jones said. "I had a really short runway and I had just come from the hurdles, so I was really tired and I didn't know what to expect — I didn't know what would happen.
    "My previous jumps, I was coming off way too high, so [coach Kristen Morwick] was just like, ‘speed up'," Jones continued. "For my next jump, I just tried to run as fast as I could and get the most out of my landing as well. Those were the two things that I was focusing on."
    Classmate and fellow jumper Dayorsha Collins also contributed to the group's successful showing on Sunday, inching closer to a provisional qualifier of her own in the high jump. After posting a 1.62-meter mark at Northeastern, Collins nailed down a 1.63 meter jump that missed the qualifier by just three quarters of an inch.
    Both Jones and Collins are part of a field events squad that promises to be much-improved from last year. While the team has traditionally relied on runners to bring in the bulk of its points, it was forecasted to boast a more balanced attack this year, which has already begun to manifest itself with the jumpers' early results.
    "I couldn't be prouder of our jumpers," junior Logan Crane said. "It's just really nice to see that there is a balance, and it's only going to get stronger. They're going to be a crucial part of our championship season."
    "Dayorsha and Nakeisha did exceptionally well, especially since it was the first meet back from winter break," Ferry added. "If they can continue to improve upon that and if we can get the other field events to start stepping up, we'll be a really balanced team, and that's something we haven't had in the past."
    After a five-week hiatus from competition, the jumpers weren't the only ones who came back showing few signs of rust, as several other members of the team qualified for New England Championships.
    Senior tri-captain Paula Dormon qualified in the weight throw and shot put with marks of 12.80 and 10.96 meters, respectively. Sophomore Amy Wilfert's time of 10:39.14 qualified her in the 3,000-meter run, with freshman Anya Price also qualifying right behind her at 10:52.98. Crane's 60-meter dash time of 8.08 seconds and Jones' 9.72 mark in the 60-yard hurdles both converted to qualifiers in the 55-meter lengths; and Ferry qualified in the 800 meters with a 2:23.38 to lead all Div. III opponents.
    "It's nice to get the mark down that you need just so you don't have to worry about it anymore," Ferry said. "You can focus on improving upon it. It sort of
takes a load off."
    "Every week it's nice to knock off another spot, another qualifying meet," Crane said. "I always focus on qualifying for Nationals because that's most important to me, but it's nice to know that … I can just focus on one thing."
    The Jumbos will resume competition next Saturday when they host the Tufts Invitational, the first of three to be held at the Gantcher Center over the course of the
next month.