It was not surprising that Emily Jones won her third New England 2-mile indoor track title last Friday night, given that she was the record holder for the event and last year’s champion, but what amazed track fans at the meet was how she achieved her victory. Jones ran her first mile in 5:27 and was holding third place before putting on an amazing kick, running her second mile in 5:08 to finish the course in 10:35, only five-plus seconds off her nation-leading time from the week before. In that race Jones set the fastest 2-mile in the country, running her first mile in 5:15 and her second mile in 5:14 to put together a spectacular, but balanced 10:29.57.
“My strategy for the race is to take it a little easy,” Jones said before the race. “I have to run next week at the Nike Nationals, and I don’t want to be too tired.”
“Emily’s second mile time was fast enough to place her in the top 10 of the New England 2-mile run,” said Coach Ray Dunn. “It was interesting to overhear other athletes in the crowd deciding to hold off starting their warmups because they wanted to see her race, and she certainly put on a great show for the crowd.”
Also competing at the meet was Katherine Finnegan, who placed 12th in the 300-meter, covering the distance in 42.16, and the Bromfield 4×400-meter relay team, which placed seventh in the New England Championships with an impressive 4:06.27.
