Rutgers Track & Field sends two qualifiers to NCAA Outdoor Championships

Rutgers track and field had 12 qualifiers compete in last week’s NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Florida. Both redshirt junior Taj Burgess and redshirt sophomroe A’nan Bridgett were able to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships taking place later this month.

Burgess qualified for the 400-meter with a time of 45.94 last Friday to advance to nationals. He had a great week overall, setting a new PR of 45.55 in the first round earlier in the week. This is the third time in his career he has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in this event and he earned Honorable Mention All-America status in 2019.

Bridgett finished fourth in the long jump with a season best of 7.70m (25’ 3.25”) to also advance to nationals. This will be the second trip to nationals in his career.

Other notable performances at last week’s NCAA East Regional included redshirt senior and Big Ten silver medalist Alivia Ash registering a PR of 1.77m (5’ 9.75) in the long jump. Redshirt junior Courteney Campbell jumped the same distance but both fell just short of qualifying for nationals. Redshirt freshman Claudine Smith recorded a PR of 12.58m (41’ 3.25”) in the triple jump for a top 25 finish. Redshirt senior Perry Christie, a two-time NCAA Outdoor qualifier in the high jump, finished in the Top 25 with a height of 2.11m (6’ 11”).

For more results from the NCAA East Regional for Rutgers, click here.

Burgess and Bridgett will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon on June 9-12.