Meet Info | Accepted Entries | Live Results
NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's and women's track and field programs both had five entries accepted to compete in this week's NCAA East Preliminary Round on the campus of North Carolina A&T.
Individual athletes had to be among the top 48 in their respective events and relay teams among the top 24 fastest times to qualify for the preliminary round, formerly known as the NCAA “regionals.” The top 12 individuals and relay performances at the NCAA East and West preliminary rounds this week will advance to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships June 5-8 at the University of Oregon.
The NSU men will have three individuals and one relay team competing this week. Qualifying in individual events were senior hurdler Keith Nkrumah, junior sprinter James Taylor and freshman sprinter Damian Smith. Nkrumah, the MEAC 110 meter hurdles champion, has the fifth-fastest qualifying time in the NCAA East, with a school-record 13.60 seconds at last month's NSU relays. Taylor, a second-team 2013 indoor All-American in the 200 meters, is 18th in the region with his time of 20.78, also from the NSU Relays. He is making his second straight regional appearance in the 200 meters. Smith qualified in the 400 meters with his top time of 47.28 from the same meet.
That trio, along with senior Kenneth Smith, clocked a season-best 4x100 meter relay time of 40.48 seconds at the Penn Relays last month to secure a spot in the NCAA East Preliminary Round. The quartet also qualified in the 4x400 relay, but was scratched so they could focus this week on the 4x100.
The NSU women will be paced by its 4x100 meter relay team of sophomores Torie Cunningham, Brittney McCants and Qua'Nesha Wallace and junior Champagne Bell. The group has the 14th-fastest accepted time for the regional, a clocking of 45.12 seconds that won the Spartans a gold medal earlier this month at the MEAC Championship. Cunningham (11.50) and McCants (11.51) will also compete in the 100 meters thanks to the personal-best times they clocked at the NSU Relays in April. Cunningham has the 18th-best qualifying time, and McCants is 20th.
The Spartans will also have two representatives in the field events. Bell is ranked No. 15 in the long jump on the strength of her top leap of 6.21 meters (20 feet, 4.5 inches) at the NSU Relays last month. Bell, who won the MEAC long jump title earlier in May, is making her third consecutive trip to the outdoor regional. She advanced all the way to the outdoor national meet as a freshman in 2011, earning honorable mention All-America honors.
Bell will be joined in the field events this week by freshman Kiara Howell in the shot put. Howell snuck into the field as the No. 48 qualifier with a top throw this outdoor season of 14.70 meters (48-2.75) at the Penn Relays earlier this month.
The NCAA East Preliminary Round runs Thursday through Saturday at the Irwin Belk Track inside Aggie Stadium at N.C. A&T, which was also the host site for the MEAC Outdoor Championships earlier this month.
