The Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships begin today and run until Saturday. This year, HBCU athletes will compete in 15 different events for men and women.
Here are the HBCU athletes who will make their bid for an NCAA Outdoor Track & Field championship.
Women
100m: Shantae George | Lincoln (Mo.)
Lincoln (Mo.) sprinter Shantae George is the only HBCU women’s athlete who competed in an individual event in the indoor championships (200m) and will also compete in one during the outdoor championships. George posted her season-best time (11.44) in the 100m during the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) championship final, finishing second in the field. In the indoor championships, she finished 18th in the 60m and 200m, respectively.
200m: Hayleigh Bryant | Winston-Salem State
The first CIAA and freshman athlete to be highlighted, Winston-Salem State’s Hayleigh Bryant will be the only woman to compete in the 200m. Bryant comes to the Outdoor Championships after winning the CIAA title in the 200m, posting a time of 23.83. She posted her season-best time of 23.66 a week later at the Dani Palooza Last Chance meet.
400m Hurdles: Shevanae Thomas | Lincoln (Mo.)
For the first time since 2022, Shevanae Thomas will compete in an individual national championship in the 400-meter hurdles. Thomas finished second in the MIAA championships, posting a 58.88 in the finals. She qualified for Lincoln’s 4×400 meter relay during the indoor season, finishing fifth in the field.
400m Hurdles: Maria Diamond | Lincoln (Mo.)
The second Lincoln (Mo.) athlete to qualify in the 400-meter hurdles, Maria Diamond is seeking her second straight podium finish at the national championships. Last year, Diamond finished second in the finals, posting a career-best score of 57.71.
400m Hurdles: Odeshia Nanton | Lincoln (Mo.)
Sophomore Odeshia Nanton will complete the hat trick of Lincoln (Mo.) athletes competing in the 400-meter hurdles. Nanton claimed the MIAA 400 hurdle championship, scoring 58.82 in the finals. This will be her first career individual event national championship appearance.
4×100 Relay: Lincoln (Mo.)- Shantae George, Shevanae Thomas, Monae Carey, Aaliyannah Anderson
In their first of two relay appearances, Lincoln (Mo.)’s women’s 4×100 relay team will compete for a national championship for the second year in a row. Last year, Lincoln claimed the outdoor title with a 44.20 time, beating the second-place team by one-tenth of a second. At this year’s MIAA championships, they finished second, posting a time of 45.32.
4×400 Relay: Lincoln (Mo.)- Shoneal Clarke-Gidding, Shevanae Thomas, Odeshia Nanton, Maria Diamond
This will also be the second straight year Lincoln will participate in the 4×400 relay outdoor national championship field. However, they did not fare as well in the 4×400, falling short of the finals and finishing 11th in the preliminary rounds. Similar to the 4×100, Lincoln finished second in the MIAA championship 4×400, putting up a time of 3:40.53.
Long Jump: M’Smyra Seward | Fayetteville State
The first field event participant on this list is Fayetteville State’s M’Smyra Seward, who is no stranger to the outdoor national championships. This will be Seward’s third time participating in the outdoor championships in the long jump, finishing second and fourth in her previous appearances. After claiming the CIAA title with a jump of 6.09m, she set a new season-high at the Last Chance meet with 6.30m.
Triple Jump: Annalisa Barclay | Lincoln (Mo.)
Lincoln triple jumper Annalisa Barclay is also returning to the outdoor championships. This is Barclay’s third time competing in the outdoor championships, and she is searching for her first top-five finish. In the indoor final, she finished 12th with 12.12m, down significantly from her 12.45m in the MIAA championships. During the outdoor conference championships, Barclay finished fifth with 12.09m.
Discus Throw: Yassine Kamara | Bowie State
Bowie State’s Yassine Kamara is one of two HBCU qualifiers in the field of discus throwers. Entering her first national championships, Kamara claimed her second CIAA discus throw championship by throwing 45.76m.
Discus Throw: Sydney Blackburn | Albany State
Rounding out the women’s field is Albany State’s Sydney Blackburn. This is Blackburn’s fourth outdoor championship appearance, having finished second and third in her last two appearances. She won the SIAC discus throw title, throwing 47.69m more than 6.0m more than the second-place competitor.
Men
100m/200m: Kibren Moore | Albany State
Jumping over to the men’s athletes, Kibren Moore is the first of two Albany State athletes who will compete in two events. Moore racked up three first-place finishes during the SIAC championships, including the 100m (10.58), 200m (20.93), and 4×100 (40.39). He also finished second as a member of the 4×400 team, posting a 3:11.92 time.
100m/200m: Ed Gilbert | Albany State
Senior Ed Gilbert is the second of two Albany State athletes who will compete in two events. Gilbert is looking to redeem himself in the national championship, having been disqualified in the 200m in his last appearance in 2022. He finished third in the 100m (10.97) and 200m (21.23) during the SIAC championships.
110m Hurdles: Matthew Blackmon | Livingstone
Junior Matthew Blackmon is the only HBCU athlete who will participate in the 110m hurdles. In his first year with Livingstone, transferring from Carson-Newman, Blackmon is the only HBCU athlete on this list who did not compete in their respective conference championship meet. During Lenoir-Rhyne’s second Last Chance Meet, he set a new personal best posting a 13.99 time his first time recording a sub-14.0 time.
400m Hurdles: Jaevon Riley | Claflin
Next, we have Claflin sophomore Jaevon Riley, the team’s only individual national championship qualifier. Riley took home the CIAA title in the 400m (47.57) and 400m hurdles (51.69). This will be his second appearance in the outdoor national championships in the 400m hurdles, having finished 17th last year.
400m Hurdles: Sean Kalawan | St. Augustine’s
From Claflin’s only individual competitor to St. Augustine’s only individual competitor, senior Sean Kalawan. This is Kalawan’s second straight outdoor championship appearance in the 400 hurdles, placing seventh in last year’s event. He recorded a season-high 50.89 in the CIAA championship preliminaries before coming in second behind Riley in the finals with a 51.95.
400m Hurdles: Sharim Hamilton | Lincoln (Mo.)
Sharim Hamilton is the last of three HBCU men competing in the 400m hurdles, and he is the only man who will participate in this year’s national championships. Hamilton is making his first outdoor national championship appearance and his first-ever in an individual event (he competed in 4×400 in this year’s indoor championships). He finished second in the MIAA championships, clocking in a season-high 51.58 time.
4×100 Relay: Albany State: Jayvon Hutchinson, Kibren Moore, Jordan Smith, Ed Gilbert
The Albany State 4×100 relay team is making its first national championship appearance since competing in the 2019 outdoor championships. After posting a season-high 39.74 in the preliminary rounds, they took home the SIAC championship with a 40.39 in the finals.
4×400 Relay: St. Augustine’s: Ha’Mir Hampton, Sean Kalawan, Shawn Walls, Amarion Harrell
St. Augustine’s will look for a better place this time after finishing second to last in the 4×400 relay during the indoor championships. Although St. Aug finished fifth in the CIAA championships with a time of 3:20.51, only Shawn Walls ran in that relay. Using this group, they have a season-best time of 3:09.12.
4×400 Relay: Claflin: Jaevon Riley, Chander Anderson, Jonathan Flemister, Zion Murry
Claflin’s 4×400 relay team, which claimed the CIAA title with a time of 3:10.80, wraps up the running events. A week later, Claflin posted a season-high 3:09.30 at the Lee University Last Chance meet.
Long Jump: Markus White | Virginia State
Virginia State freshman Markus White is returning to the national championship stage in the long jump. White also qualified in the long jump during the indoor championship season, finishing second after measuring 7.55m. He secured the CIAA title with a 7.41m measurement before posting a season-high 7.59m at the LR Last Chance meet.
Triple Jump: Rajaun Ricketts | Benedict
Benedict’s only qualifier, sophomore Rajaun Ricketts, will compete in the triple jump. This is Ricketts’ second straight outdoor championship appearance, having finished 10th in last year’s event. In the SIAC championships, he claimed the title by putting up 15.39m.