WAYNESBURG, Pa. (May 24) – The Waynesburg University women’s track & field team made program history this weekend when the field for the 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships was announced.
Yellow Jacket standouts Krystal Baker, Marybeth Rocco and Elisha Jones all qualified for the event, which will be held from May 26-28 at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Waynesburg’s three representatives at nationals is a new program record and head coach Jason Falvo couldn’t be more excited.
“It’s obviously a great step for our program,” Falvo said. “We’ve had two go [in 2008] with Ashley Dodd (pole vault, class of 2009) and Elisha as a freshman, but this is the first time we’ve had three go. It says a lot about how hard our kids work and our coaches work. Hopefully we’ll go there and do some great things.”
Jones leads the group as a three-time qualifier in the javelin. As a freshman in 2008, Jones became Waynesburg’s first NCAA Division III All-American in outdoor track & field. She qualified for this year’s championships with a school-record throw of 44.40 meters (145’ 8”) at the Slippery Rock University qualifier on May 7. Her distance is the fourth-best in Division III heading into the championships.
While Falvo is confident all three of his representatives can hold their own on the national stage, he has particularly high hopes for Jones, who became the first Waynesburg track & field athlete to reach an automatic qualifying mark.
“We really feel that Elisha has positioned herself to be an elite Division III javelin thrower,” Falvo said. “We really feel that she can win the Division III championship and that’s what we’ve been helping her work towards all year. The goal for the program is to come back with three All-Americans and we think EJ can win. We’re looking forward to some great things.”
For Jones to reach that lofty goal, she’ll have to defeat her teammate Rocco, who has been one of her toughest competitors all season. The sophomore also qualified for the national javelin championships at the SRU Qualifier after a toss of 42.39 meters (139’ 1”). Her distance is the 12th-best in Division III heading into the championships.
“Marybeth can also be an All-American,” Falvo said. “We really feel that she can do that and she works as hard as anyone on the team.”
Like Rocco, Baker will also make her first trip to nationals. She qualified after posting a distance of 11.66 meters (38’ 3.25”) in the triple jump at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) South Quad Meet, which was hosted by Bethany College on April 21. Her distance tied her for 16th-best in Division III heading into the championships.
“Krystal is having another great year,” Falvo said. “We really feel that her best jumps are ahead of her.”
Baker, Jones and Rocco also make up the largest contingency ever sent to an individual NCAA Division III national championship event by Waynesburg. For a complete look at this year’s field at the championships, click here.