LOWELL - First year Jana Hieber (Goffstown, NH), junior Nakeisha Jones (Boston, MA) and sophomore Kelly Allen (Norton, MA) of the Tufts women's outdoor track & field team all won events at the non-scoring George Davis Invitational hosted by UMass Lowell on Saturday. Each of the three had NCAA Championships provisional qualifying marks as well.
Hieber won the 400 meter hurdles with a 1:03.73 time, 0.56 faster than host UMass Lowell's Ashley Zielinski (1:04.29). Hieber's time was almost a half-second faster than the 1:04.20 provisional mark, and she's currently ranked 13th nationally in the event.
Jones defeated Wheaton's Ashley Dell'Aira by four inches in the triple jump with a 38'6 1/4" mark (11.74m). Jones was well beyond the 37'3 1/4" (11.36m) NCAA provisional mark and is ranked sixth on the national list.
Allen participated in all four throwing events and was among the top six in each. She won the discus throw with 139'10" distance (42.63m), five inches better than Stacey Connor of the Greater Boston Track Club. Allen also easily surprassed the NCAA provisional qualifier of 136'2" (41.50m) and is #13 on the NCAA discus throw performance list. She improved upon her earlier qualifying distance of 137'7" (41.94m) from the discus throw at Westfield State on March 26.
The Jumbo 4x4 had a third-place time of 4:10.20 at UMass Lowell, recorded by sophomore Sam Bissonnette (Bridgewater, MA), sophomore Alyssa Corrigan (Wellesley, MA), first year Colleen Flanagan (Boxborough, MA) and Hieber in the anchor role.
Coach Kristen Morwick's Jumbos compete at the MIT Invitational next Saturday.
Meet results
#
