Kimona Smith wins another gold medal

Results           AGGIES TRY TO WIN FOR SPACE
BALTIMORE, Md., May 3, 2008 – One event and one moment may have cost the North Carolina A&T women’s track and field team a MEAC outdoor women’s championship. 

On Saturday at the 2008 MEAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Morgan State’s Hughes Stadium, Loreal Smith had visions of winning four gold medals. She was not alone in this assessment. She was the favorite in the 100 and 400 meter hurdles. She and her teammates were the favorites in the 400 meter relay.

If Aggies could win the 1600 meter relay, Smith’s golden dream would be reality and so would the Aggies first team title since 1995. Things started out well. Smith had a nice lead coming out of the blocks. But she hit hurdle No. 3 flush with her lead leg. She tried to recover, but she struggled to get over hurdles 4 and 5 before falling to the track surface with an injured ankle before reaching hurdle No. 6.

Smith courageously lifted herself off the surface and finished her race. But it would be the final race she finished on Saturday. Smith was pulled from the 400 meter hurdles and the 1600 meter relay. Smith withdrawing from those events coupled with her not scoring in the 100 meter hurdles devastated the Aggies chances of winning the team title.

The Aggies finished third (94 points) behind Maryland-Eastern Shore (118) and Hampton which won its sixth straight title with 123 points.

“Loreal not finishing that race changed the whole dynamic of this meet,’’ said assistant track and field coach James Daniels. “Loeal Smith is not going to finish any lower than second in a hurdles race. We were fighting a very difficult uphill battle after we lost her.”

Before Loreal’s 100 hurdles race began the Aggies had the lead with 75 points with Smith still having three races remaining. Plus, the Aggies had Alexandria Spruiel and Jennifer Jackson competing in the 200 meters. Jackson still had the 100 meters remaining and Spruiel had yet to run the 400. Therefore, it was all lining up right for the Aggies.

“Even after I hit the third hurdle, I thought I still had the race won,’’ said Smith. “My technique and footing just never came back to me the way I expected it to. I came over thinking no big deal; I still have two races to run. When I couldn’t land on my ankle in warm-ups I knew it was over. I’m not a crier, but I cried somewhat.”

It was somber for the Aggies to watch as UMES and Hampton scored points in the events Smith missed. The Pirates even won the 1600 meter relay. But it was not a complete melancholy day for the Aggies.  As expected, sophomore Kimona Smith won gold in the triple jump with a personal-record jump of 42-feet, 8 ¾ inches. Kimona Smith already has three outdoor titles and one indoor title in her young career. She won the triple jump for the first time and she repeated as the long jump champion.

 “I’m surprised I’ve won this much,” said Kimona Smith. “I knew winning titles would be something I’d eventually do, but I never thought it would come this early.”

Before she was injured, Loreal Smith did team with Spruiel, Jackson and Carmenta Mitchell to win gold in the 400 relay with a time of 45.09.  What was thought to be a record yesterday at 45.28 was actually inaccurate according to the MEAC office. Therefore, the Aggies 45.09 is good enough for a first-place finish, but not a meet record.

“We could have easily folded after Loreal went down,’’ said Daniels. “We could have coasted the rest of the way. But these young ladies continued to run hard and continued to compete. It says a lot about this team’s ability to persevere."