NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State track and field teams had a total of four individual athletes and one relay team earn spots in next week's NCAA East Preliminary Round competition in Jacksonville, Florida.

Sprinters Kiara Grant, Malika Pride and Trequan Barnes and middle distance standout Martha Bissah will all return to the outdoor postseason for the first time since 2019. Grant will compete in the 100 and 200-meter events, Pride and Barnes in the 400 and Bissah in the 800. The Spartan men's 4x100 relay team also qualified for the meet, which will be hosted by the University of North Florida.

Grant, a five-time All-American in the 60, 100 and 200 meters, will compete in the regional for the second time. Her top times so far this season are 11.29 in the 100m and 23.25 in the 200m, both of which she posted at the Gamecock Invitational in April. She is ranked 18^th in the regional field in both events.

Pride has also made the postseason in  the 400m for the second time in her career, with the other coming in 2019. She clocked a personal-best time of 52.89 seconds for the quarter-mile at the MEAC Outdoor Championships earlier this month, which earned her a second-place finish at the conference meet.

Barnes, a 2019 indoor All-American in the 400 meters, is making his third outdoor regional appearance. He qualified for the postseason with a time of 46.33 seconds, No. 23 in the region, in a third-place finish at the MEAC Outdoor Championships.

Bissah is a four-time All-American in the half-mile and will run at the regionals for a third time in her career. Her top time in the 800 this season is 2:06.72, which she ran at the Aggie Twilight Classic last week. She is ranked 42^nd in the region.

The NSU 4x100 relay team posted a top time of 40.14 seconds at the MEAC Outdoor Championships earlier this month. The quartet of Keith Brown, Kai Cole, Anthony Franklin and Savien Hayes claimed the silver medal with that performance. They are ranked 23^rd among qualifying teams.

The NCAA East Preliminary will be contested Wednesday through Saturday next week. Men's events begin Wednesday and conclude Friday, with women's competition set for Thursday and Saturday. The top 12 in each event advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships at the University of Oregon from June 6-9.