Phifer comes up a few meters short of qualifying for East Regional

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., April 14, 2008 – Somehow Calesio Newman is getting faster. First there was the school-record 20.89 seconds in the 200 meters at the Wake Forest Open. Then there was the 10.35 in the 100 meters preliminaries at the Murray Neely Invitational and the 10.51 in the 100 meter finals.

Over the weekend, Newman obliterated those marks at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn. Newman ran a 10.08 in the 100 meters for a personal best. Unfortunately for him, two Tennessee Volunteers were even faster than he was.

Tennessee’s Rubin Williams ran an impressive 9.96 to finish first. His teammate Matthieu Pritchett ran a 10.07 to also finish ahead of Newman. Newman has already qualified for the 200 and 100 meters for the 2008 East Regional. Newman ran a 21.14 in the 200 meters at the Sea Relays to finish sixth.

Going into the weekend the best 100 meter time in the East region was 10.11 by Clemson’s Travis Padgett. Therefore, when the new times are updated Newman could have the best time in the region and the second best time in the nation. Newman has the fourth best 200 meter time in the East Region and 13^th best 200 meter time in the nation. 

On the women’s side, Jennifer Jackson continued her improvement. The junior had a sixth-place finish in the 100 meters at the Neely Invitational. She finished seventh with a time of 11.71 at the Sea Ray Relays in the 100 against some of the top runners in the country.

“People like Jennifer, Crystal Carrington, Carmenta Mitchell and (men’s jumper) David McFadgen are going to be so important for us during the conference meet because they add depth,’’ said director of track and field programs Roy Thompson. “If they are competing at a high level, they are going to make us so much better. So I really like what I’ve seen from Jennifer lately.”

Standout junior Loreal Smith also had a good day. She finished fifth in the 400 meter hurdles and seventh in the 100 meter hurdles. Smith has qualified for the 100 and 400 meter hurdles and she is a part of the 400 meter hurdles team that has qualified for regionals.

The Aggies are back in action this weekend when they participate in the International Friendship and Freedom Games held at N.C. A&T’s Irwin Belk Track.