ELIZABETH CITY – Four Hertford County High track and field athletes are headed to the NCHSAA State Track and Field Championships at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro next Friday.

The quartet finished in the top four in their events at the 2A East Regionals held last Saturday at Pasquotank High School.

Senior Joya Blackwell will be making a return to the state meet after she finished first in the triple jump. Blackwell’s leap of 35 feet-2 inches topped all competitors. She also finished second in the girl’s 100 meter hurdles with a non-wind aided time of 16.47 seconds; and was third in the girl’s high jump with a leap of 4 feet-10 inches, giving her three events to participate in next weekend.

Other HCHS qualifiers were: Jaquarii Roberson in the boy’s high jump with a leap over the bar of 5 feet-10 inches, well below his Northeastern Coastal Conference record of 6 feet-8 inches. Malcolm Dameron finished second in the boy’s triple jump at a distance of 43 feet-2 inches, and Rayshawn Beamon made it into the top three in boy’s 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.23 seconds.

The state championships will be held at the Irwin Belk Track at NC A&T.