In North Carolina A&T’s second home track meet of the season, the Aggies advanced four players into the Eastern Regional Finals Saturday at the Murray Invitational at Irwin Belk track.
Senior sprinters Alexandria Spruiel, Loreal Smith, Ron Buchanan, and junior jumper Calesio Newman all advanced after placing first in their respective events.
On the men’s side, Newman’s 21.08 time in the 200 meter and 10.28 in the 100 meter qualified him for the second consecutive time. Buchanan joined him after finishing his triple-jump in 49 feet, 8-1/2 inches.
“We have really focused on mechanics,” said assistant coach James 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.”
Smith contributed in her first outdoor meeting of the season breaking the school record in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 13.55.
Spruiel also finished first in her 400 meter race with a regional qualifying time of 52.98.Brittany Dixson continued to shine following her remarkable performance last week.
She jumped 19-feet, ¾ inches in long jump and 39-feet, 3-1-4 inches in the triple.
The Aggies had nine first place finishes in total.
“I felt we looked very good today even though we have room for improvement,” said Daniels.
They will be back at Irwin Belk Saturday when they host the International Friendship and Freedom Games.Â
- Daniel Henderson