TALLAHASSEE, FL (May 27) – Four sprinters from the 2012-2013 Lady Rattler outdoor track and field team will be competing in the NCAA National Championships in Eugene,OR. next month.  They did so by qualifying in the NCAA semifinals this past weekend in Greensboro, NC.  

FAMU Athletics will hold a press conference tomorrow, that will be streamed live on Rattler Vision, at 1 p.m.  The press conference will be held in room 123 of the Alfred Lawson Jr. Center (Downstairs Press Room).

The Lady Rattlers who qualified are Ashley Ivey, Dynasty Jones, Nakia Linson and Jasmine Smith.  Linson is a double qualifier, as she will compete individually in the 100m and 200m dashes, while the four of them will compete as a team in the 4x100m relay.

Linson, a triple-qualifier for the NCAA, took the 100m dash in the MEAC Outdoor Championships in a time of 11.47.  For the NCAA regional, she improved her time to just 11.34, qualifying as the only HBCU runner form the Eastern division.  Linson also qualified in the 200m dash, running 23.56 in the NCAA semifinals.

The 4x100m relay team also made a marked improvement from the MEAC championships.  They took second place in the relay at the MEAC Championship with a time of 45.24, edged by the Norfolk State Spartans.  but, they improved on their time to overtake the Spartans in the NCAA Semi-finals.  In the MEAC meet, Norfolk scored first place in 45.12, while the Lady Rattlers took second place in 45.24.  At the NCAA meet, the Lady Rattlers shaved over a half second off of their time, coming in at 44.72, while Norfolk failed to qualify at 44.91.

The press conference will be hosted by Vaughn Wilson, and he'll be joined by head coach Darlene Moore and all four NCAA qualifiers.