GREENSBORO - Aggies were competing against one another on Thursday at the 2012 MEAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. That was a good thing for the North Carolina A&T.
The championships, being held at A&T's Irwin Belk Track, saw teammates Dotrine Jacobs and Jenea McCammon push each other to finish 1, 2 in the 400 meter hurdles preliminaries. Jacobs finished with a personal record of 58.76, while McCammon's personal best came in at 59.81. The two will go for gold Saturday in the finals.
On the men's side, it was Jarrell Elliott and Torrance Womack competed against one another. Womack and Elliott ran the third heat of the men's 200 meter dash, and finished 1,2 on the track with Womack running a 20.80 to qualify for Saturday's final. Elliott, who runs the 200 as his secondary race to the 400, ran a personal-best 20.85.
The two men came to the finish line with virtually no other competition other than themselves. Freshman James Taylor of Norfolk State had the best qualifying time with a 20.71 finish. Elliott had the third fastest time, but finished fifth overall because he didn't win his heat.
"It is all about advancing people to the finals," said James Daniels, interim director of track and field programs. "We had some very good performances today. "Womack's performance will rank him very high in the NCAA East Regional Rankings. I really appreciate the efforts we had today."
The Aggies did score on Thursday. Sophomore Sydni Cobb finished fifth in the discus with a best throw of 127-feet, 1-inch. Her performance put the Aggies on the board with four points. There were a couple of disappointments on Thursday.
Krystin Lawson and Ruth Cassandra-Hunt did not qualify for the 200 meter dash final. Lawson has been struggling with a respiratory infection for the past two weeks. She ran 24.35 in the 200 on Thursday, while Hunt, who has been competing with a hamstring injury, finished with a time of 24.40.
Competition on Friday begins at 9 a.m., as Shakia Forbes will go for her third straight long jump title. Elliott will also try to qualify for the 400 meter finals.
