North Carolina Central University

INDOOR TRACK

     DURHAM, NC -- Jason Smoots and Katerina Glosova top a list of seven North Carolina Central University student-athletes that will be competing in the 2002 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships starting March 8 at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.
     Smoots, a junior native of Gadsden, Alabama, will look to defend his national championship title as he enters the men's 60-meter dash with the top qualifying time of 6.62. Smoots starts his title defense on Friday at 6:45 p.m. in the preliminary round.
     In his last event (Saturday, March 2), Smoots, a two-time NCAA national champion and four-time all-American, placed second in a photo-finish of the men's 60-meter dash at the USA Track & Field Championships in New York, NY. He finished just 0.005 seconds behind the winner Terrence Trammell, a silver medalist at the Sydney Olympics.
     "Jason is definitely the favorite as the defending national champion," NCCU head coach Michael Lawson said. "He has not finished behind a collegiate athlete all season, Division I or II."
     Glosova, a senior from the Czech Republic, is also the top qualifier in her field with a 2:08.66 in the women's 800m run. The three-time Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Cross Country champion has yet to win individual all-America honors, but her head coach thinks she is ready.
     "Katerina is our surprise," said Lawson. "She is on! She has her attitude together. She is motivated. She is focused. She is ready."
     "Maybe she can cap her indoor career with a national championship."
    Glosova begins that quest in the preliminaries on Friday at 7 p.m.
    Freshman Chanda Powell qualified for her first national championship event with the seventh-fastest time in the women's 60m hurdles. The Durham, NC native will run in the preliminaries on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
    Senior Kennisha Moten (Fayetteville, NC), who captured all-America honors at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Track Championships, will try to add to her resume as the 11th qualifier in the women's 400m dash (56.36). She entered last year's outdoor meet with the 12th-best time, yet qualified for the finals and placed seventh to earn the all-America brand. Moten will run the preliminary race on Friday at 6 p.m.
     Junior Rosalyn Pollard (Hendersonville, NC) squeaked into the NCAA event with the 14th-fastest qualifying time (7.71) in the women's 60m dash. Her preliminary event gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
     NCCU's 4x400m women's relay team, consisting of Moten, Pollard, Glosova and freshman Lindsay Holmes (Colorado Springs, CO), was the ninth squad taken for the championship event. Last year, Moten, Pollard and Glosova were members of the Lady Eagle 4x400m relay which placed fifth to earn indoor all-America honors. This year's foursome will look to repeat that effort in Saturdays final at 5:20 p.m.
     Freshman Steven Enoch (Burlington, NC), who earned all-CIAA honors at the indoor conference meet, boasts thefourth-longest leap (50' 6.25") in the men's triple jump entering the national championship event. He will wait until Saturday to compete in the trials at 3:15 p.m.

Last Revised:  March 5, 2002