TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Brandeis University senior Anat Benun (Haifa, Israel/Ironi Hey) earned the third All-America honor of her career in the triple jump today at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Classmate Ali Sax (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) finished in 10th place, missing All-America honors by two spots.
Benun, who entered the meet seeded ninth, won her flight with a season-best jump of 38 feet, 7 ½ inches (11.77 meters) on her second of three preliminary attempts to earn a berth in the finals. Though she was unable to improve on her performance in the finals, Benun's sixth-place finish scored three points for the Judges. She had previously finished second and third at the NCAA Division III championships in 2007 and 2006, respectively, missing her junior season to injury.
Sax missed qualifying for the finals by less than three inches, with a top jump of 37 feet, 7 ¼ inches (11.46 meters), five inches short of her season best. Sax was the 14th seed headed into the meet.
Thanks to the three points earned by Benun, Brandeis tied with five other schools, including New England rivals Williams, Smith, Colby and Bowdoin for 48th place. The Judges tied for eighth among New England schools and second among four UAA schools that scored points, just one point behind Emory. Wartburg College won the meet with 51 points, 9.5 points ahead of Wisconsin-Lacrosse. Tufts was the top New England team, finishing in fifth place with 23 points.