Tufts Track and Field to Send Nine Athletes to 2025 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships

MEDFORD, MA (March 10, 2025) - The Tufts University men's and women's indoor track and field team will head to upstate New York as a select group of qualifying athletes compete in the 2025 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of Nazareth College on Friday, March 14 at 10:00 am.

Junior Josh Wilkie leads off the list of qualifiers, landing a spot in the 60m hurdles preliminaries thanks to his school record-breaking finish at the Tufts Final Qualifier in 8.09 seconds. It has been a season of consistent improvement for the junior, culminating in the school record. He began the season with finishes around the 8.50s range and maintained steady cuts to his times throughout the year. He will compete in the 60m hurdles as the number 19 seed beginning at 1:30 pm on Friday with the finals taking place on Saturday.

The other Jumbo to qualify from the men's side is first year Luke Benson, who qualified for the Championships in the triple jump. The rookie jumper started his career with a bang, winning his first two competitions in the triple jump event. He set his personal best of 14.69m to land a top mark in the NCAA Division III in the second week of the season, and has seen consistent improvement in the long jump as well. Benson will compete in the triple jump as the number 10 seed at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday at 2:30 pm.

Leading the list of qualifiers on the women's side is senior pole vaulter Sarah Firth. Firth is another school record-breaker from this season, snapping her own record in the pole vault with a mark of 3.92m at the Springfield College Triangle Classic in February. The record was good for a top 10 mark in the NCAA Division III, and has her as the number eight seed going into the championship weekend. 

Fellow senior Jordan Andrew joins Firth as a qualifier in a field event, competing in the triple jump after a career season. Andrew jumped for a personal record of 11.97m in the triple jump event at the New England Division III Championships, taking first in the event and earning a top 15 mark in the NCAA Division III. The senior jumper had a steady season, landing jumps of around 11.70m before an explosive personal record in The TRACK at New Balance. She will compete in the triple jump tied for the number 11 seed event beginning at Nazareth on Saturday at 11:00 am.

Tufts will be sending two jumpers to compete in the triple jump, after first year Elysse Cumberland landed a personal best jump of 12.01m at the Tufts Final Qualifier last weekend. The personal best marks an impressive increase in her marks this season, starting out at 11.02m with her first triple jump of the season and ending with the national qualifying jump.
Cumberland will compete as the 10 seed at the same time as Andrew as both Jumbos look to land top marks in the national field of competition.

The last set of Tufts athletes to compete in the NCAA Division III Championships will be a team in the 4x400m relay. The squad composed of senior Annika Kral, senior Emma Smith, first year Arielle Chechile and first year Makayla Moriarty will compete in the relay event hot off of a school record-breaking performance of their own at the Tufts Final Qualifier last weekend. They set a new program best with a finish in 3:50.97 improving the over 20 year-old record by over a second. They will compete as the five seed in a field of 12 teams in the preliminary round on Friday at 5:35 pm, with the top teams moving on to the final to conclude the weekend on Saturday at 6:40 pm.