North Carolina Central University

OUTDOOR TRACK

NCCU Sends Four to NCAA Track & Field Championships

      Four North Carolina Central University student-athletes will be competing at the 2001 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships beginning May 24 at Ralph Korte Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
      Leading NCCU's contingent is sophomore Jason Smoots, who claimed National Champion honors in the men's 55-meter dash at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships (March 10 in Boston) and placed third in the 100m dash at last year's outdoor championships to earn All-America recognition. Smoots has qualified in both the 100m and 200m dash. The Gadsden, Alabama native enters the meet with the fourth fastest time in the 100m (10.40) and the ninth best time in the 200m (21.07).
      "We have high expectations of Jason winning another national championship in the 100 and possibly the 200," said NCCU head track & field coach Michael Lawson. "Since winning the national championship, he has a lot of confidence. He is also more mature and relaxed."
      NCCU's other representatives at the national championship event will be junior Kennisha Moten in the 400m dash, senior Angela Brown in the long jump, and junior Katerina Glosova in the 800m run.
      Moten, hailing from Fayetteville, NC, enters the national meet with the 12th best time of 55.69 in the 400m dash. Lawson has seen Moten improve in each of the last three meets, and feels the junior is ready to achieve individual All-America honors. "Confidence is the key for Kennisha," said the 12-year NCCU head coach. "She has to believe that she belongs in the national spotlight."
      Brown, a native of Abilene, Texas, boasts the eighth best jump of the outdoor season with a leap of 19 feet, 5.25 inches. This is Brown's first trip to the nationals since her freshman year, when she earned All-America honors in the long jump at the 1999 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships.
      Glosova, a native of Cernotin, Czech Republic, qualified with the 20th fastest time in the 800m run (2:13.07).
       Moten will be NCCU's first competitor, running in the preliminaries of the 400m dash at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday (May 24). Smoots follows at 6:50 p.m. in the preliminaries of the 100m dash. If he advances, the sophomore sprinter will have to run again later that night at 9:30 in the semifinals.
      On Friday, Brown begins the long jump finals at 7:30 p.m., while Glosova hits the track for the 800m preliminaries at the same time. Smoots runs the 200m preliminaries at 7:45 p.m.

Last Revised: May 23,  2001