PHILADELPHIA - The North Carolina A&T track and field teams
have a lot to be proud of after their trip to Philadelphia for the 2012 Penn
Relays. Not only did they have several
Aggies place well in their respective events, many athletes had the opportunity
to compete on national TV in the prestigious Championship of America events.
"It is always exciting to compete
in the Penn Relays, any time you can perform in front of over 40,000 people and
appear on TV on Saturday in a Championship of America final is a great
accomplishment," said James Daniels, interim director of North Carolina A&T
track and field programs.
It was an especially good trip for
the Aggies relay teams. The men's 4x200 meter team (Earl House, Jarrell Elliott, Darryl Williams and Torrance Womack) earned fourth place with a time of 1:24.20. The men's 4x800 meter relay team (Steve Liggins, Paris
Simmons, Danzeto Cephas and Darius Bogertey) were the first Aggies to compete
in the Championship America 4x800 meter relay. The men earned 12th
with a time of 7:40.36, a new Aggie record.
Jared Baldwin had an exceptional
Penn Relays as he tried to win his first individual MEAC championship this
coming week. Baldwin competed in the Championship of America long jump and
earned fifth out of 23 jumpers with a distance of 23-feet, 9-inches.
On the women's side, Sherice
Walker, Dotrine Jacobs, Chantal Luedeke and Jenea McCammon earned sixth in the
women's shuttle hurdles Championship of America with a time of 60.71. Other
notable performances from the Lady Aggies come from Shakia Forbes who earned
fifth in the women's invitation only long jump championship with a distance of
19-feet, 9-inches. Forbes won the Penn Relay long jump two seasons ago.
Unfortunately many of the lady
Aggies got hit by a flu bug before competition.
"Over half the women were sick at
different times throughout this week which truly hindered how we competed,"
explained Daniels. "I am hoping we will recover in time to compete for
conference. Overall I am pleased with our efforts, but we have to get healthy
before Thursday's start of the MEAC conference championship."
The MEAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship
will be hosted by A&T at Irwin Belk Track May 3-5.
