AGGIES
OVERCOME CHALLENGING WEATHER AT MEETMen finish second, women finish third
GREENSBORO, March 18, 2006 – The North Carolina A&T track teams began what will promise to be a busy track season at Irwin Belk Track in breezy and chilly weather conditions during the one-day Aggie Team Challenge Meet on Saturday.
The North Carolina A&T men finished second in the team standings with 110 points, 13 points behind first-place winner Wake Forest. The Aggie women finished third with 96.5 points, finishing behind North Carolina and Maryland.
“An event like today will help me down the road,’’ said Gordon Smith, a sophomore out of Rocky Mount. “You think about the fact that it’s the first race of the season, and it’s so cold out here so my muscles were tightening up on me. But I still ran some pretty good times, so that gives me some confidence going into next week’s race.”
Smith and his Aggie teammates will be competing in the Aggie Relays at Irwin Belk Track from March 23-25. It will be the second of 10 events held at Irwin Belk Track in 2006, and the second of four Aggie home meets during the ’06 men’s and women’s outdoor track and field season.
On Saturday, Smith finished first in the high jump and third in the 400 meter hurdles. Smith jumped 6-feet, 6-inches to win the high jump, two inches better than teammate Dominique Camm. The high jump was one of four events the Aggie men won on Saturday.
“My focus is on the high jump,’’ said Smith. “I didn’t do as well as I wanted to during indoor. I want to work on getting my steps right so I can float over the bar better. What I did today was pretty good, but I can do better.”
Tarrish Alexander won the long jump with a leap of 23-feet, 3-inches. Two of Alexander’s teammates – Cerone Burnett and Ron Buchanan – gave the Aggies the top three spots in the long jump as they finished second and third respectively.
Buchanan would take the triple jump thanks to a best leap of 47-feet, 4-1/4 inches, finishing ahead of Burnett. The 4x100 team of Antonio Lee, Ronnell Seales, Robert Martin and Thomas Funderburk won with a time of 41.67.
The women also had four winners. Senior Lauren Taylor placed well in a sprint event, a hurdles event and jump event. She finished first in the long jump as she posted a jump of 18-feet, 7-1/4 inches. But the weather was also on her mind.
“I did OK, but I really didn’t do as well as I wanted to do,’’ said Taylor. “Mentally, he was tough because you’re thinking in your mind how cold it is out here. And you think about how you have to compete in this cold weather. All you can do is try to stay focused and get through it.”
She apparently did just that. In an event she usually doesn’t post her best times in, the 100 meters, she ran it in 12.22 seconds to finish fourth. She placed third in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 12.40 seconds, four-tenths of a second behind teammate Kendra Newton.
Fellow senior Courtney Clark also had a good day. She placed first in the 400 meter hurdles with a time 1:01.52. She placed second in the 200 meters at 24.91. Alexander Spruiel’s win in the 400 meters and the Aggies first-place finish in the 4x400 relay closed out the Aggie victories on Saturday. Carmenta Mitchell finished second in the 400 meters behind Spruiel with a time of 55.87.