Day 1 Results

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Freshman Jacob Milton completed a sweep of this year's MEAC men's high jump titles, winning gold in the event to lead the Spartan men's track and field team to the top of the standings after the first day of the MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday.

Milton cleared 6 feet, 11 inches on the campus of North Carolina A&T to become the first Spartan since Marlon Woods in 2009 to sweep the indoor and outdoor gold medals in that discipline. Omega Smalls of North Carolina Central also cleared 6-11, but Milton won based on fewer misses. He did not have a single miss until the bar was moved to 7-1.

Milton won the MEAC indoor high jump championship in February with a top leap of 6-11.5.

Milton was one of three Spartans to score in the event on Thursday. Fellow freshman Garth Warner cleared 6-7 to take fifth place, and senior Joseph Boyd tied for seventh at 6-5 to give the Spartans 15.5 of their 29 first-day points. Two-time defending outdoor champion Bethune-Cookman is in second with 23.5, while North Carolina A&T and Maryland Eastern Shore are tied for third with 16.

Also on Thursday, the Spartan men placed four runners in the finals of the 10,000 meters, compiling 12 more points. Junior Ronald Korir led the way for NSU with a fourth-place finish (32 minutes, 18.62 seconds), followed by sophomore Anteneh Girma in fifth (32:25.86). Haileyesus Demsie claimed seventh (33:01.70) and Felix Kiprotich was eighth (33:08.12).

NSU also received two points from junior Da'Trail Hockaday in the discus. His top throw traveled 149 feet, 1 inch.

The Spartan women are in seventh place after the first three events. They got their first five points of the meet Thursday from junior Brianna Hayes in the high jump. She cleared a height of 5-3.25.

In Thursday's preliminaries, sophomore Tyrika Lee posted a PR in the 200-meter dash. She was second in her heat with a time of 24.20 seconds, good enough to advance to Saturday's final. 

On the men's side, freshman Jaylen Banks (52.13) and senior Rashad Ramsey (52.18) clocked PRs in the 400-meter hurdles to advance to Saturday's event final. Banks won his heat and recorded the second-fastest qualifying time, and Ramsey was second in his heat and the third-fastest qualifier overall.

Action resumes on Friday morning at 9 a.m. with the conclusion of the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon events.