MEDFORD, MA - The Johns Hopkins men's and women's track teams competed at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet on Saturday looking to make one final push for individuals to qualify for the upcoming NCAA Division III Indoor Track Championships.  While official entries for the championship won't be announced until Sunday, the Blue Jays positioned themselves well to add to their list of individuals and relay teams expected to qualify.

Senior Sara Stephenson, who entered the day ranked 21st nationally in the 3,000-meter run, bettered her previous season best time of 9:49.12 by nearly nine seconds to jump to number six nationally as she clocked in at 9:40.60 to place first in the nine-person field and lock down a spot at the national championships.

On the men's side, the Blue Jay distance medley relay team appears to have secured a spot as well as the team of Daniel Chen, Ahmed Elmogi, Arthur Beyer and Matthew Kleiman placed third in a field of 19 teams with a Johns Hopkins and Centennial Conference-record time of 9:54.12.  The time appears to be strong enough to qualify for the NCAAs; this will be the first time in 10 years that the Blue Jay DMR team has competed as the NCAA Championships.

Other strong performances for the Johns Hopkins men came from Elmogi in the 200-meter dash (1st place / 22.40) and Bryce Thalheimer in the 3,000-meter run (2nd / 8:17.95), while Lauren Phillips won the 60-meter dash (7.78) and the 4x400-meter relay team of Kathleen Saussy, Grace Massillon, Monal Daterao and Phillips also placed first (3:55.74).