JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After the Norfolk State track team got off to a bit of a slow start at the NCAA Track and Field East Preliminary Round on Thursday, two Spartans who competed Friday advanced to the national quarterfinals at Hodges Stadium on the campus of North Florida.

Senior Aramis Massenburg and junior Keith Nkrumah both advanced in the 110 meter hurdles. They will run in Saturday's next heats - which are considered the national quarterfinals - with the chance to advance to the site of the national championship meet, Drake University, in two weeks for the semifinal and final rounds. They need to finish among the top 12 out of the 27 runners who qualified for Saturday's next round to accomplish that goal.

Massenburg was second in his heat and 16th-fastest out of the 27 qualifiers Friday with a time of 13.89 seconds. The senior, a 2011 honorable mention All-America honoree in the same event, was competing for the first time in a month after a foot injury sidelined him for the MEAC outdoor meet earlier in May. Nkrumah, the MEAC champion in the event, earned the third automatic qualifying spot out of his heat. He clocked a 13.90, the 17th-fastest time.

Sophomore James Taylor was second in his 200 meter heat in a time of 20.75 seconds, which would have qualified him 10th for Saturday's national quarterfinal round. But he was later disqualified for running out of his lane. Despite missing out on a chance to qualify for nationals, Taylor does have a MEAC gold medal in the 200 to his credit after his first year of collegiate outdoor competition. Taylor didn't run last year during outdoor season due to injury.

Taylor, Nkrumah, Kenneth Smith and Vincent Brown will also run in Saturday's 4x400 meter relay quarterfinals.