ADA, Ohio (March 15) -- In just his first collegiate season Thiel College freshman Josh Jones (New Castle/New Castle) (New Castle/New Castle) was crowned a national champion at the 2008 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in the high jump with a winning leap of 6-11 (2.11m) Saturday afternoon. Jones is the Tomcat's first-ever indoor national champion and is also just the Tomcat's third overall national champion. The national championships were hosted by Ohio Northern University at the ONU Sports Center in Ada, Ohio.

Jones edged Whitworth University sophomore Cody Stetzler who finished in second place with jump of 6-9 3/4. He was one of just five automatic qualifiers for the event after attaining the automatic qualifying standard of 6-10 1/4 on Feb. 23 at the Kent State University Tune-Up.

With Jones' national championship and junior Dorran Coley (Kingston, Jamaica/Kingston College)'s (Kingston, Jamaica/Kingston College) sixth-place finish in the 55-meter high hurdles, the Tomcats finished tied for eighth-place as a team with 13.0 total points.