MORE AGGIES QUALIFY FOR EAST REGIONAL

Brandon Via finishes second in triple jump

 KNOXVILLE, Tenn., April 17, 2006 – North Carolina A&T will soon have the opportunity to become the first Historically Black College or University to host an NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Regional, which is phenomenal in itself. But having a number of Aggies represented at the event makes it even better.

 N.C. A&T track and field did its best to make that a reality as five athletes earned qualifying marks at the Sea Ray Relays, hosted by the University of Tennessee.

 All-American Brandon Via will return to the regional for the third time in his stellar career, as he finished second in the triple jump, landing a season best 52-feet, 2-inches. Via finished 14^th in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet-2 ¾  inches.

 The women’s 4x400 meter relay team of Carmenta Mitchell, Alexandria Spruiel, Fallon Hutcherson, and Courtney Clark ran a time of 3:39.99 seconds to finish in eighth place and qualify for regional competition. In addition, the Aggie women fared well in a rare event, earning a fourth place finish in the 400 meter shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 57:03 seconds.

 Aggie hurdler Lauren Taylor turned in the sixth-best time in the women’s 100 meter hurdles, as she clocked in at a season-best 13.80 seconds and earned an invitation to the NCAA East Regional, which will be held May 26-27 at Irwin Belk Track.

 Clark, who qualified for the regional in the 400 meter hurdles last week, turned in a time of 1:01.02 to finish in 15^th place. Spruiel finished 13^th in the 100 meter dash with a time of 55.39 seconds. Gordon Smith and Dominique Camm tied for ninth place in the high jump, reaching a 6 foot-6 ¾ -inch mark.

 The Aggies will host the annual Murray/Neely Invitational, Saturday, Apr. 22, at Irwin Belk Track.