TAMPA, Fla. (May 24, 2018) – North Carolina A&T track and field (men and women) sent a school-record 24 qualifiers to the NCAA East Preliminary Championships at the University of South Florida. They advanced four to the quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at USF Track & Field Stadium. The Aggies sent 19 a season ago to the East Regionals and 18 back in 2009.
The top 48 individuals in each event and 24 relays qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds with the top 12 finishers at this week's meet advancing to the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 6-9 in Eugene, Ore.
N.C. A&T opened with 13 athletes competing in six events on Day 1 of the east regionals.
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Freshman Trevor Stewart had the standout performance for the Aggies. In the first round of the men's 400 meters, Stewart ran a personal-record 45.28 to finish with the third-fastest time. Stewart will try to advance to the NCAA champions 1 p.m., Friday when he competes in the quarterfinals. Junior Justin Hamilton (46.94) finished 30th and senior Dajuan Harding (48.52) was 46th and failed to qualify out of the first round.
Superstar sprinter Kayla White, who came into the east prelims ranked sixth in the East in the 100mh and 10th in the 100m, finished 12th in the 100 in 11.27 on Thursday. She will look to head to her second straight NCAA championships when she competes in the quarterfinals Friday at 1:45 p.m.
Senior India Brown did not qualify for the quarters as she finished 32nd in 11.52.
In the men's 100m first round, junior Rodney Rowe (10.32) placed 18th to proceed to Friday's 1:30 p.m., quarterfinal. Sophomore Jaylan Mitchell, who was coming off an injury after being ranked No. 1 in the 100m a good portion of the season, did not qualify after running a 10.85. Joel Thomas finished 36th in 10.52 and did not qualify.
Freshman Chase Bonham, who came in ranked 25th in the East in the men's 400mh, qualified for the quarterfinals of the event on Thursday. He recently set a new school record in the 400mh at the Mount Olive Final Qualifier. He will compete at 2:30 p.m., Friday in the quarterfinals after running a 51.78 to place 23rd.
In the women's 400mh, Kennedy Thorne did not qualify for quarters after running a 1:01.40. Nia Lundy narrowly missed qualifying for the women's 400m quarterfinals after finishing 26th in 53.19. Sophomores Tori Ray (53.92) Sun-Sara Williams (54.95) also failed to qualify.
The Aggies have additional events on Day 2. Junior Michael Dickson (5th in the region), senior Todd Townsend (14th) and sophomore Robert Miller (29th) will compete in the men's 110mh at 4:30 p.m., Friday.
The women's 100mh is the deepest event for the N.C. A&T women. All three occupied the podium at the MEAC Championships. White is ranked No. 6, sophomore Madeleine Akobundu is 18th while freshman TeJyrica Robinson is 32nd. The trio races at 12:30 p.m., Friday.
Competing in their second individual events are Rowe and Stewart in the men's 200m at 7:30 p.m. Rowe, ranked No.9, is the 200m MEAC champion at 20.42 while Stewart (34th) placed fourth.
The women's 200m starts at 7:55 p.m., as Brown, No. 18 in the East, is scheduled to run.
