MIDDLETOWN, CT - Five members of the Tufts women's outdoor track & field team won New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) titles at the annual conference meet hosted by Wesleyan University on Saturday. The Jumbos placed third overall with 131 total points.
Senior Kelly Allen (Norton, MA) won her second straight NESCAC disus throw title with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 152'4" (46.44m) that is a NESCAC and school record. She smashed the previous conference mark of 148'2" (45.17m) set by Anna Morrison of Williams in 2007. The previous school record was her own, a 146'7" (44.67m) mark from last season. Her heave this year was almost 14 feet further than second-place Amina Avril of Williams (138'8"/42.28m) at NESCACs. Allen's mark is ranked third nationally.
Jumbos Nakeisha Jones (Boston, MA) and Jana Hieber (Goffstown, NH) also improved their NCAA qualifying marks with NESCAC victories. Jones won the triple jump with 38'9 1/2" (11.82m) length, improving upon her previous 38'6 1/4" (11.74m) qualifier. She's currently ranked ninth on the NCAA list. Hieber won the 400 meter hurdles with a 1:03.39 time (18th nationally), faster than her previous 1:03.73 NCAA time set at UMass Lowell on April 9.
Senior Amy Wilfert's win in the 1,500 meters was an NCAA provisional qualifying time. She finished in 4:34.06, currently the seventh-best time in the event among NCAA Div. III competitors.
Tufts also received a throwing victory from junior Ronke Oyekunle (Harvard, MA) in the shot put with 42'3 1/4" (12.88m) distance. Allen recorded the exact same mark, but Oyekunle won the tie-breaker by virtue of her second-best throw being better than Allen's.
Junior Heather Theiss (North Woodmere, NY) tied for second in the pole vault, clearning 10'10" (3.30m). Hieber added a third place in the 100 meter hurdles (15.40 seconds) to the Tufts score. Senir tri-captain Kanku Kabongo (Abington, MA) went 17'0 3/4" (5.20m) in the long jump for third place. Allen also had a third, throwing the hammer 149'2" (45.48m).
Williams College won the conference title with 194 points.
NESCAC Championships results
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