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Amy Wilfert raised her NCAA qualifying time in the 1,500
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BETHLEHEM, PA - Juniors Nakeisha Jones (Boston, MA) and sophomores Ronke Oyekunle (Harvard, MA) and Kelly Allen (Norton, MA) won 2011 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championships for the Tufts women's outdoor track & field team at Moravian College on Thursday and Friday. Coach Kristen Morwick's Jumbos placed third at the annual ECAC meet after scoring 54 points.
Jones won her first ECAC triple jump title with 38'7 3/4" (11.78m) length. Tufts scored 18 points in the event, as senior tri-captain Kanku Kabongo (Abington, MA) was the runner-up at 37'10 1/2" (11.54m).
Allen won her second straight ECAC discus throw crown and swept the regional championship season in the event. She added a 146'9" (44.72) ECAC victory to All-New England, New England DIII and NESCAC wins in the event earlier this spring.
Oyekunle won the shot put and provisionally qualified for NCAA's in the event with a 43'5" (13.23m) launch that is a new Tufts record. Also the NESCAC champion in the event, Oyekunle's ECAC shot smashed the 26-year old Tufts record of 42'10" set by Jan Brown in 1985. Allen was fifth in the event at 41'3" (12.57m) for 14 total Tufts points.
Versatile track senior Amy Wilfert (Westborough, MA) put down a strong NCAA provisional time of 4:32.70 in the 1,500 meters, ranking 11th in the field for Division III. She was third in the event.
Kabongo, a huge scorer for the team in the championship meets, added a third in the long jump with a measurement of 17'8 1/4" (5.39m).
For the season, Tufts qualified seven athletes in 12 events for the NCAA's. Wilfert (1,500, 5000, 3000S) and Allen (DT, SP, HT) led the way with three each. Jones is the highest ranked at #8 in the triple jump. Allen is ninth in the discus. The team awaits the official announcement of the NCAA field early next week.
ECAC Championship results
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