Rowan freshman Nyla Jones from Timber Creek placed 5th and earned All-America honors in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Geneva, Ohio.
Jones ran 1:01.46 and finished as the top freshman in the race. It’s the best finish by a Rowan woman at nationals in the 400 hurdles in 32 years, since Laiton Roberts from Oakcrest placed 3rd in 1993 with a time of 1:02.75 in Berea, Ohio.
Jones, who set an New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships meet record and Rowan school record of 1:00.42 earlier this month in Ewing, ran 1:02.36 in the Thursday’s semifinals and went into the final as the No. 9 seed, which put her in challenging Lane 1.
But she wound up running more than half a second faster in the final, finishing ahead of four runners who ran faster in the prelims.
Jones is also 5th in Rowan history with her 14.27 in the 100-meter highs, which she ran with legal wind in the prelims at the NJAC meet before winning the final in 14.35.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 