Lawson wins the women’s 100 and 200 meters  

Results
GREENSBORO, April 11, 2009 – In what will not be a surprise to anyone, North Carolina A&T track and field sprinters Loreal Smith, Alexandria Spruiel, Calesio Newman and jumper Ron Buchanan qualified for the NCAA Division I Track and Field East Regionals hosted by N.C. A&T May 29-30. 

What was noteworthy about their showings on Saturday at the Murray Neely Invitational at N.C. A&T’s Irwin Belk Track was the fact that they qualified in their first competitive events of the outdoor season, and the impressive way in which they qualified in their first competitive events of the season.

“I felt we looked very good today even though we have room for improvement,’’ said N.C. A&T associate track and field head coach James Daniels, who coaches the Aggie sprinters. “I was pleased to see what we worked on practice being used out there today. Our times in our first races this year were better than our times in our first races last year. As a coach, you like to see that.”

Smith’s first time out was so good she broke the school record in the women’s 100 meter hurdles with a time of 13.55. Smith’s time was good enough for entry into the east regionals. Spruiel finished first in the women’s 400 meters with a time of 52.98 to qualify.

On the men’s side, Newman qualified for the regionals in the men’s 100 and 200 meters. He ran an impressive 21.03 to win the 200. His time would have been even lower, but he decided to slow down before the finish line because of his huge lead. Newman finished second to Nike’s Jason Smoots in the 100 by running a 10.28.

Ron Buchanan will also compete at Irwin Belk Track at the end of May as he qualified in the men’s triple jump thanks to a leap of 49-feet, 8-½ inches.

“We have really focused on mechanics,’’ said Daniels. I’m glad we competed today without thinking. Sometimes when you’re working on new things in practice, you’ll see your runners thinking about those things as they’re competing. We ran relaxed today.”

The Aggies had nine other first-place finishes on Saturday. Krystin Lawson finished first in the women’s 100 and 200 meters. Lawson had a time of 11.81 in the 100 and finished the 200 24.58 seconds. Freshman Khadeen Issacs had a first-place finish in the women’s high jump with a leap of 5-feet, 1-¾ inches.

Brittany Dixson followed her outstanding performance from a week ago at the Aggie Relays with two first-place finishes in the long and triple jumps at Murray Neely. Dixson jumped 19-feet, ¾ inches in long jump and 39-feet, 3-¼ inches in the triple. Jerrine Foster had her second straight first-place finish in the discus with a throw of 146-feet, 5-inches. She also finished first in the shot put with a throw of 46-feet, ¾ inches.

Gordon Smith, who has already qualified for the east regionals in the 400 meter hurdles, finished first in the men’s high jump on Saturday at 6-feet, 4-inches. David McFadgen led the way in the men’s long jump. His best jump was 23-feet, 1-¾ inches.

The Aggies will be back at Irwin Belk Track again next week (April 17-18) when they compete in the International Friendship and Freedom Games.