LEXINGTON, Ky. – Norfolk State hurdlers Jaylen Banks and Taejah Robertson both ran strong races on Friday night in the NCAA East Preliminary Round hosted by the University of Kentucky, but ultimately failed to advance to the next round of competition.

Banks, a freshman, was bidding to advance to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships next month at the University of Oregon in the 400-meter hurdles. He ran a personal-best time of 51.30 seconds and placed sixth in his heat during Friday's quarterfinal round. Overall, his was the 15^th-fastest time out of 24 athletes in the quarterfinal round, three slots and .13 seconds shy of advancing to nationals.

Robertson, a sophomore, competed in the first round of the 100-meter hurdles on Friday afternoon. She placed fifth in her heat in 13.68 seconds, her third-fastest time of the season. The performance was 35^th out of 48 hurdlers in the opening round, with only the top 24 advancing to Saturday's quarterfinals.

Both Banks and Robertson were silver medalists in their respective events at the MEAC Outdoor Championships earlier this month.

The Spartans' last two regional qualifiers, high jumpers Jacob Milton and Garth Warner, compete Saturday beginning at 6 p.m.