The men and women of North Carolina A&T's track and field team are ending their successful season on a high note. Not only did the team perform well in the MEAC Outdoor Championship, 15 Aggies have qualified for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Track and Field Championships.

According to James Daniels, interim director of A&T's track and field programs, the Eastern region is the most competitive region in the NCAA. The three-day meet will be held at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. and will begin May 24.

Each athlete will be trying to advance to the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Des Moines, Iowa, June 6-9. A top eight finish will earn them All-American honors. A 9-16 finish will warrant a second-team All-American label.

"Without a doubt, I am proud of the individuals who have made it to the regionals," said Daniels. "They have worked very hard to get to the level of success they are at now."

Among the women competing for the Aggies is the 4x100 meter relay team. The team is comprised of Shakia Forbes, Ruth Hunt, Krystin Lawson, Jenea McCammon and alternate Jessica Farr. The team is ranked 34th in the nation after a second-place finish at the MEAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships earned them a time of 45.06. 

"I am excited about the women in 4x100 relay. We are ranked 13th out of 24 teams in the region going into the East Regional preliminaries. We just have to beat three teams to get to the nationals. Three of the women on the team are seniors, so this would be a great way for them to end their career," said Daniels.

Forbes is also qualifier in the women's long jump. Forbes' best jump of the outdoor season came from her performance at the 2012 Kent Taylor-Joe Hilton UNC Invitational, where she had a distance of 20-feet, 2-inches.

McCammon and Dotrine Jacobs both qualified to compete in the 400 meter hurdles and are nationally ranked Nos. 29 and 31 respectively. The ladies had a stellar performance at the MEAC Outdoor Championship, in which both recorded their personal bests. McCammon took first with a time of 57.92 and Jacobs came in one-tenth of a second later to finish second. Jacobs also qualified for the 100 meter hurdles. Jacobs is No. 48 in the nation after her performance at the Aggie Classic, in which she ran a personal best of 13.49.

"Forbes is capable without a doubt of qualifying for nationals and moving forward," said Daniels. "McCammon and Jacobs are ranked high as well and they also have an opportunity to make it."

The Aggie men have a pretty good 4x100 meter relay team too. It is made up of Earl House, Darryl Williams, Jarrell Elliott and Torrance Womack. They hold the A&T outdoor record and are No. 33 in the nation after their performance at the 2012 Pepsi Florida Relays yielded them a time of 40.13. The same quartet also earned second place at the 2012 MEAC Outdoor Championship with a time of 40.23, and they go into the regional ranked 16th.  Jeffery Lewis will be the alternate.

The 4x400 team will also be in Jacksonville. D'Mitri Bouttry, Williams, Elliott, Womack and Paris Simmons will, in some way, make up a team that will try to advance to the NCAA Championships. The squad set the school record at the Florida Relays with a time of 3:08.71. The time ranks them No. 37 in the nation. The foursome of Elliott, Simmons, Bouttry and House earned second at the MEAC Championship with a time of 3:09.68.

In addition to qualifying for relays, Elliott, House, Simmons and Womack also qualified for individual events.

Elliott, No. 16 in the nation, qualified to compete in the men's 400 meter dash. Elliott's best performance of the season was at the International Friendship and Freedom Games, where he not only set a school record and a personal record, he also qualified for the Olympic Trials with his time of 45.87. House qualified for the men's 100 meter dash. His best time this season and of his career was recorded at the Florida Relays, in which he ran a 10.43. House also earned third at the MEAC Championship with a time of 10.55.

Simmons, who is ranked No. 47 in the nation, qualified for the men's 800 meter run after his performance at the MEAC Outdoor Championship. Simmons not only earned second place overall, he broke the MEAC meet record (1:49.18) in his preliminary round and went even lower than that during the finals (1:48.95). Delaware State's Donte Holmes broke the meet record and finished first at the MEAC's with a time of 1:48.55. Simmons will go into Jacksonville ranked No. 17 in the region. 

Womack, ranked No. 49 in the nation, qualified for the men's 200 meter dash. His best performance was at the MEAC Championship where he ran 20.80 in the preliminary round and earned third place overall. The Aggie men had one field athlete to qualify for the regional championship. Keenan Smith and Jared Baldwin will compete in the men's triple jump. Smith's best performance of the season was at the Aggie Classic, in which he jumped a distance of 46-feet, 6 ¾ inches. Baldwin's best day came during the recent Aggie Classic when he jumped 49-feet, 7-inches.

"We have positioned ourselves well for both the men and women to advance to the national competition. Competition is going to bring the best out of everyone," said Daniels. "We have 15 athletes in the regionals, which is great for our program and institution. We have just as good of a chance as anyone."