Nov. 17, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - Sophomore runner Tyler Jones once again earned La Salle Student-Athlete of the Week honors, this time for snagging All-Region honors at last weekend's NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional.

Jones ran to 15th place individually out of 197 runners as he was the first Explorer to cross the finish line. He clocked a 32:30.0 on the nor'easter soaked 10K course at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore to earn the first all-region honors of his career. Runners who finish in the top 25 are designated as all-region.

He was also just three individuals shy of qualifying for the NCAA national championship, as the the top four runners not on a qualifying team are selected to compete as well.

Jones has led the Explorers in every race he competed in this season, and is the leader on team that is now ranked fifth in the Mid-Atlantic Region. He led a pack of determined Explorers who are among the region's elite as the only squads that finished above the Explorers at the regional meet were two nationally ranked teams (Georgetown and Villanova) and two conference champions (Saint Joseph's and Navy).

"Tyler has had a great season," Head Coach Charles Torpey said. "Starting at [the BU Invitational] he has just kept building in practically every race. At the NCAA [regional] his goal was between 13-18 and hoping that would have an outside shot at NCAA's. Tyler went with the pack and kept his nose in the race.

[At that level], everyone is real good and they all have the same thing on their mind - help the team make it or make it individually. He fell short, but had a great race in a very strong field, in very tough conditions."