Smith named MEAC Track Athlete of the Week

MANHATTAN, N.Y., February 13, 2008 – Kimona Smith secured her spot as one of the favorites for the MEAC Indoor Championship meet in the triple and long jumps. Smith competed against some of the best athletes in the world at the New Balance Collegiate Indoor Invitational and finished first in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump.

For her efforts, Smith was named MEAC Track and Field Athlete of the Week. The Aggies will compete in the MEAC Indoor Championships Feb. 15-16 in Landover, Md.

She finished with a jump of 40-feet, ½ inch leap in the triple jump and had a personal-best leap of 19-feet, 7-inches in the long jump. Smith, a sophomore out of St. Thomas, Jamaica, already has an outdoor long jump crown to her credit. She placed third in the triple jump and long jump at the MEAC indoor championships last season.   

“Even though she was having difficulty with her ankles, she made some outstanding jumps,’’ director of track programs Roy Thompson. “She can compete through injuries because she has a lot of skills and she is a great technician.”

Smith has not yet qualified provisionally for the NCAA Nationals. She is still a few inches short of accomplishing yet another feat in her young career. She owns the best MEAC triple jump distance of this season with a leap of 40-feet, 7 ½ inches set at the Penn State Indoor Invitational last week.

“She probably be an All-American before she leaves North Carolina A&T,’’ said Thompson. “I think she is the definite frontrunner in terms of winning the MEAC this year in the triple jump.”