This weekend, the East and West Preliminary Rounds of the Division I Out of doors Monitor & Discipline Championships concluded, with athletes competing for a spot within the Nationwide Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
HBCUs got here away with a robust efficiency, with 9 particular person athletes and two relay groups securing a spot on the nationwide stage.
Set to start June 5 by means of June 8, these athletes will showcase their abilities in entrance of a nationally televised viewers, with the championships airing on ESPN’s essential networks (ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU).
The HBCU athletes will compete for nationwide titles within the NCAA Division I Out of doors Monitor & Discipline Championships.
Girls
4×100 Relay: Howard- Ai’yanna Grey-Williams, Mackenzie Robinson, Kailei Collins, Tiffani Rae Pittman, Sherri-Ann Norton, Aniya Woodruff
All ladies who will likely be shifting on to compete for Out of doors championships in Eugene will come from Howard College.
The Bison’s 4×100 relay staff punched its ticket on an computerized bid, working 43.55 occasions within the quarterfinals and ending third of their warmth.
They’re the primary HBCU ladies’s 4×100 staff to advance previous the First Spherical Preliminaries since North Carolina A&T in 2021.
400m Hurdles: Simone Watkins | Howard
Simone Watkins is the one HBCU ladies’s athlete to make it previous the primary spherical to the Division I Championship semifinals.
Competing within the second warmth, Watkins led the pack, working a brand new private greatest time of 55.92.
That is the third yr a Howard ladies’s 400-meter hurdler will compete for an NCAA championship (Jessica Wright every of the previous two years).
After transferring from Texas Tech, Watkins, in her first season with Howard, entered the East First Spherical Preliminaries, having received the MEAC 400m hurdle title with a then-personal-best 57.76 time.
Males
Lengthy Soar: Jet Brown | Grambling State
Considered one of three males’s discipline occasion qualifiers, SWAC Lengthy Soar champion James Brown can have an opportunity to compete for the nationwide title.
Coming off his greatest efficiency of the season within the SWAC championships, leaping 7.65m to assert the title, Brown almost matched that mark within the East Regionals with a 7.61 soar.
He completed sixth within the discipline changing into the primary Grambling State athlete, man or girl, to clinch a berth in outside nationals since 2013.
4×100 Relay: North Carolina A&T- Aveon Reid, Jason Holmes, Caleb Jackson, Isaiah Taylor, Xzaviah Taylor, Jaeden Gumbs
After having their eight-year streak of advancing previous the East Preliminaries snapped final yr, the North Carolina A&T 4×100 relay staff is heading again to Eugene to compete for the title.
The Aggies mechanically certified for the DI championships after putting third of their quarterfinal warmth, working a season-best 39.24 time.
NCAT made it to the finals every time of their earlier six 4×100 semifinal appearances earlier than lacking out on the 2023 championships.
They’re on the lookout for their first top-three end on this occasion since 2017.
Triple Soar: Malachi Aiken | College of Maryland, Japanese Shore
Maryland-Japanese Shore junior Malachi Aiken, making his first nationwide championship look, is considered one of two HBCU athletes to qualify in a discipline occasion.
He’s the primary UMES athlete, man or girl, to advance previous the East Preliminary Spherical since Gayon Evans certified for the ladies’s 100 and 200 in 2014.
Aiken narrowly certified for nationals, claiming the eleventh of 12 spots, recording a 15.77m (51’9″) soar, setting a brand new private greatest.
100m/200m: Jamarion Stubbs | Alabama State
Alabama State sophomore Jamarion Stubbs is considered one of solely two SWAC athletes to make it previous the Regional Finals. He’s additionally the one HBCU athlete to qualify in two particular person observe occasions (100 and 200).
That is the second yr Stubbs will compete within the Nationwide Championships and the primary time he has competed individually.
Although he completed fourth within the third and ultimate warmth, Stubbs certified based mostly on his 10.07 time the most effective of a non-top three finisher.
He fared significantly better within the 200m tying for the second-best time within the quarterfinals of 19.95 seconds.
110m Hurdles: Jason Holmes | North Carolina A&T
The primary of three HBCU athletes to qualify within the 100m hurdles, sophomore Jason Holmes can also be making his first Out of doors championship look.
Holmes tied for the second-best time of all 12 qualifiers, recording a 13.40 time within the quarterfinals to cement his spot in Eugene, Oregon.
Since he’s additionally a part of North Carolina A&T’s 4×100 relay staff, Holmes is the one HBCU athlete to qualify for a person and relay occasion.
110m Hurdles: Samuel Bennett | Howard
Subsequent up within the 110m hurdle discipline is Howard’s Samuel Bennett, who’s making his first Out of doors Nationwide Championship look.
Having transferred to Howard from Harvard this fall, Bennett entered the East Preliminaries after successful his first-ever convention championship race, the MEAC 110m hurdle title.
He clinched a spot in nationals after ending second within the second warmth with a private greatest time of 13.52.
Considered one of 4 Howard Bison within the 110m hurdle discipline, Bennett was the one one to make it previous the primary spherical into the quarterfinals.
110m Hurdles: Thomas Smith | North Carolina A&T
Finishing the hat trick of HBCU athletes who certified for the boys’s 110m hurdles discipline in nationals is North Carolina A&T sophomore Thomas Smith.
Smith becoming a member of teammate Holmes on this discipline marks the second yr in a row North Carolina A&T has had two totally different athletes qualify for nationals in the identical particular person occasion.
The Aggies’ sophomore additionally mechanically certified, ending third behind Bennett within the second warmth with a 13.65 time.
400m Hurdles: Noah Langford | Howard
Noah Langford is the final of three Howard qualifiers on this checklist and is the one HBCU athlete to punch his ticket to Eugene within the 400m hurdles.
Langford claimed the final qualifying spot within the discipline, making it based mostly on his 50.55-second time, which narrowly beat out the next-best time of fifty.61 seconds.
Excessive Soar: Caleb Snowden | Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Caleb Snowden, who will compete within the excessive soar, rounds out the HBCU Division I Out of doors Monitor & Discipline Championship qualifiers.
Snowden is the one HBCU athlete within the West Preliminary Spherical of the Out of doors Championships to advance to Eugene.
Snowden led his flight, leaping 2.20m (7’2.5″) with out failed makes an attempt.
