BOONE, N.C. - App State juniors
Taylor Smith and
Jada Branch are set to compete in the NCAA East Preliminary Round, held in Bloomington, Ind. and hosted by Indiana University at Haugh Track & Field. Smith will compete in the women's long jump on Thursday and Branch will compete in the women's triple jump on Saturday. Both events are scheduled for 6 p.m. starts. Live results and a free live stream will be available throughout the meet.
Smith posted a personal-best leap of 6.11m (20' 0.5") to place second at the Sun Belt Championships in Lafayette, La. on May 14. Her mark also placed her fifth in the App State record book. After the championship meet, Smith rose to 46th in the NCAA East Region rankings and was named Second-Team All-Sun Belt.
Branch qualified for the NCAA East Prelim women's triple jump competition after posting a personal best of 12.86m (42' 2.25") on April 7 at the Drake Invitational in Durham, N.C. At the Sun Belt Championships, Branch landed on the podium with a second-place finish in the women's triple jump (12.78m (41' 11.25")) and earned Second-Team All-Conference accolades. Branch is ranked 29th in the NCAA East Region in the triple jump category.
The top-12 competitors from each individual event at the NCAA East Preliminary will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. on June 8-11.
