The Jumbos capped off their indoor track season with a superb showing at the Div. III National Championships at Grinnell College in Iowa this past weekend.
All four Tufts women who competed finished in the top eight of an event, earning All?American honors for their efforts. Despite having just four representatives at the meet, the strong all?around showing was enough to net 16 points for Tufts, good for ninth place as a team at the meet.
Junior thrower Kelly Allen was impressed by the team's ability to put points on the board.
"All four of us having top?eight finishes, and the team finishing in the top 10 is pretty impressive," Allen said. "We only had four girls competing, but managed to get 16 points, which is a real testament to the strength of our team."
The national meet was less about the team's finish, and far more about the chance for individuals to shine at Div. III's highest level of competition.
Senior jumper Nakeisha Jones is the most experienced of the group, and entered the weekend having earned three previous All?American accolades in her event, the triple jump, at the indoor championships. Jones did not disappoint this year, finishing fifth in the triple jump with an indoor career best leap of 39?9 1/4 on Saturday. Jones is now 7?for?7 in cracking the top eight at national events.
On the other end of the experience spectrum was sophomore Jana Hieber, who before this meet had never been named an All?American. But Hieber thrived on the big stage, shattering the previous Tufts mark for points in the pentathlon by netting 3,401 this weekend, the third?best total at nationals. Hieber won the 800?meter part of the pentathlon with a time of 2:17.86.
"Jana was amazing," Allen said. "To go from a 12?seed coming in to finishing third is incredible. We all knew she could do it, but you could see all the other teams were shocked ... they didn't expect it. For Jana to do this well and be so young is great for her and the team going forward."
As for Allen, she took care of business on Friday, bringing home her third All?American award and her first?ever indoor honor. Allen finished sixth in the weight throw with a toss of 57?0, her second?farthest throw ever. On Saturday, Allen also had the opportunity to compete in the shot put, where she finished 14th with a heave of 42?2.
"I knew I could go in and do some damage in the weight throw," Allen said. "It was all about doing what I had done all year, and I had the second and third best throws of my career this weekend, so I definitely did that. Would I have liked to finish even higher? Yes, obviously, but I was very happy with my finish anyway."
The final competitor on Friday was senior pole vaulter Heather Theiss, who like Hieber was looking to bring back her first All?American honor. Theiss succeeded, finishing sixth in the event with a new school record height of 12?3 1/2.
"For me personally, I'm very happy," Theiss said. "Because I'm a senior, it's hard not to think of these meets as my last shot to really do well and improve. ... Getting that PR was huge for me."
"Now I'm just getting ready for outdoors, and hopefully I can continue to improve my jumps even more," Theiss added, looking forward to her last season of collegiate competition this spring.
The four All?Americans have little time to celebrate their victories, as the outdoor season begins with the Husky Spring Invitational on Saturday.
