LEXINGTON, Ky. | Florida A&M had a pretty full schedule on day two of the NCAA East Preliminaries (May 23). Rori Lowe and Nya Blocker competed in the 100 meters, Katelynn Smith took on the 400 hurdles, and Blocker returned to the track to race in the 200 meters.

With the "Top 24" advancing to the quarterfinals, Smith finished milliseconds short of qualifying, placing 25th in 58.19. She secured her spot in the regional meet at the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships, where she achieved a personal record and won a gold medal with a time of 57.59. Prior to the NCAAs, Smith consistently finished "Top 3" in every 400H race this outdoor season.

Lowe and Blocker finished back-to-back in the 100-meter prelim, 36th (11.54) and 37th (11.55), respectively. The performance matched a college best for the former.

Blocker was the lone Rattler to qualify for two events at the NCAAs. Shortly after competing in the 100, she clocked in at 23.51 in the 200 to place 34th overall. She earned her NCAA East qualification just days before the deadline by achieving personal bests in the 100-meter (11.40) and 200-meter (23.17) events at the PURE Athletics Sprint Elite Meet. The Rattler freshman also took home a silver medal in the 100 meters at the SWAC Championships. Lowe received a bronze medal in the event. 

In total, FAMU sent five athletes to Kentucky: Smith, Blocker, Lowe, Joseph DeRosier, and Breanna Brown-Marshall, who is next up to compete. She will need to finish "Top 12" in the high jump on Saturday to punch her ticket to Oregon. The event begins at 2 p.m. Live stats can be found here. 
 

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