George Mason University was not Theresa Jones' first college choice. But as it turned out, it was her best.
The Wakefield (Arlington, VA) H.S. graduate has excelled in the Patriot system both athletically and academically. This past spring, she has been particularly successful at both.
Jones, an All-Metropolitan honorable mention triple jumper as a prep, spent her first year in college at Mount Saint Mary's in Emmitsburg, MD. She set a school record there in the triple jump at 38-5 and ran on one ECAC scoring relay (4x100), but struggled in other aspects of her life.
After her freshman year, Jones transferred to George Mason University where her fortunes began to rise. After another slow start, her grades and her track and field performances began to improve by leaps and bounds through her sophomore and junior seasons. Already this year, the senior has a Colonial Athletic Association triple jump crown to her credit and is on the school's Athletic Director's Honor Roll. She's jumped NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the triple jump, and is aiming for a big showing at the ECAC Championships to be held at George Mason at the end of the month.
"Theresa has always been eager to compete," said head coach Norm Gordon. "And being from the local area, she always has a crowd of people watching her. If we had more athletes like Theresa, we would have great attendance at our home meets."
After finishing second in her division of the Penn Relays in the triple jump last week at 41-1 1/4, Jones came back this past weekend to finish as the top collegian in the long jump at 19-9 3/4 and finish second in the triple jump at 41-9 1/4 at the GMU Spring Invitational. For her efforts, she has been named the Connection Newspapers/George Mason Athlete of the Week.