The men and women of North Carolina A&T’s track and field team are ending their successful season on a high note. Not only did the team perform well in the MEAC Outdoor Championship, 15 Aggies have qualified for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Track and Field Championships.
According to James Daniels, interim director of A&T’s track and field programs, the Eastern region is the most competitive region in the NCAA. The three-day meet will be held at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. and will begin today, May 24.
Each athlete will be trying to advance to the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Des Moines, Iowa June 6-9. A top eight finish will earn them All-American honors. A 9-16 finish will warrant a second-team All-American label.
Among the females competing for the Aggies is the 4×100 meter relay team. The team is comprised of Shakia Forbes, Ruth Hunt, Krystin Lawson, Jenea McCammon and alternate Jessica Farr. The team is ranked 34th in the nation after a second-place finish at the MEAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships earned them a time of 45.06.
Forbes is also a qualifier in the women’s long jump. Forbes’ best jump of the outdoor season came from her performance at the 2012 Kent Taylor-Joe Hilton UNC Invitational, where she had a distance of 20-feet, 2-inches.
McCammon and Dotrine Jacobs both qualified to compete in the 400 meter hurdles and are nationally ranked 29th and 31st, respectively. The ladies had a stellar performance at the MEAC Outdoor Championship, in which both ladies recorded their personal bests.
The Aggie men competing include Triple Jumper Jared Baldwin and runners Torrance Womack, Earl House and Paris Simmons
