Kaydian Jones Earns East Coast Conference Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – Senior Kaydian Jones of the University of the District of Columbia Women's Indoor Track & Field team has earned the East Coast Conference Track Athlete of the Week for her performance in Princeton's Tiger Open that was held this past Saturday. Also, sophomore Jerily Benjamin made the honor roll.
Jones (Journalism – Kingston, Jamaica/St. Andrew HS) delivered the biggest performance of the day in the 200M event. In the very first Heat, she got off to an incredible start, putting the race out of reach within the first 60 meters. She won her Heat by more than a full second, clocking in at a new season's best and indoor personal-best time of 25.18 seconds; her dominant win (out of 33 competitors) places her 8th in the nation (Division II) in the 200M and moves her up the NCAA Provisional Qualifying list.
With just a short break, Jones returned to lead off the 4x400 relay squad. The Firebirds were neck-and-neck with the University of Delaware and it came down to the anchor leg, with her teammate Benjamin (Undeclared – Queens, N.Y./Philip Randolph HS) pulling away to secure first place right at the finish line. The team ran to a winning time of 3:57.35 – good for 15th in the nation (Division II).
In addition to her terrific anchor leg, Benjamin took first place in Heat 1 of the 400M with a season-best 58.67s. She was the top performer out of nine competitors at the event, and her time is not far off the NCAA Provisional Qualifying time of 57.96s.
The Firebirds are back in action on Saturday, February 1st when they compete in the George Mason Patriot Games in Fairfax, V.A.