Jones Runs Down All-American Season

By Joe Reardon

Months before yesterday’s Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships, Bromfield’s Emily Jones knew exactly what to expect on the 3.1-mile Balboa Park course in San Diego. For Jones, the two-time Division 2 state champion, there would be no hanging back, gearing for a devastating kick and then kicking for the tape. This race would be a battle from the gun.

“If you let up at all in this race you wind up in 40th place,” Jones said. “The start was fast because there are so many amazing runners. I knew it was going to be like that. I didn’t want to leave anything on the course.”
Jones left nothing back and is an All-American as a result.

Jones ran hard from the start and finished 11th with a time of 17 minutes, 54 seconds, just 10 seconds outside of fifth place. The top 15 finishers earn All-America status.

Jones couldn’t have been more pleased after finishing 25th in last year’s race as a sophomore and running nearly a minute faster than the 18:46 she posted in 2006.

“I’m really happy with that,” she said. “I improved a lot.”

Jones qualified for the finals after finishing a close second to Neely Spence of Shippensburg, Pa., in the Northeast regional race on Nov. 24 on the famed Van Cortlandt Park layout in New York. Spence was fourth yesterday in 17:35. Ashley Brasovan of West Palm Beach, Fla., was the overall winner in 17:20.

Jones’ goal before the finals was to finish in the top 15, but admitted after that a top-10 showing would have been a “stretch.”

Jones was very much in contention to finish as an All-American early, passing the mile in 15th place. She moved into 10th briefly at the halfway point and held her position, dropping back no lower than 12th over the final mile.

“I went out as hard as I could to maintain my place,” Jones said. “I pretty much tried to stay there (11th).”

Now that the cross country season is over, Jones plans to take a week off before gearing up for the 2-mile during the indoor track season. Jones finished second to Newton South’s Bridget Dahlberg in the All-State mile last year.