INDIANAPOLIS–North Carolina Central freshman Gordon Lewis has qualified to compete in the 2018 USATF Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships on June 15-17 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
 
A native of Fredericksburg, Va., Lewis achieved qualifying times of 20.82 seconds in the 200-meter dash and 47.07 seconds in the 400-meter dash. Both marks rank among the top 10 in the event's field of competition.
 
"Gordon has done a phenomenal job for us this year as a freshman," said Tavius "T.J." Walker, NCCU director of track & field/cross country. "He is a young man of tremendous character and is doing extremely well academically. He has represented our program, this institution and the city of Durham at a high level, and we expect him to continue to do so.
 
"He has had a long season, starting back in August," Walker added. "After the NCAA regionals, we gave him some time off to recoup mentally, physically and emotionally. As we began to train for this meet, we had to knock some rust off initially and then we sharpened him up this past week."
 
His two first-round events will be held on Saturday (June 16), with the 400m dash at 5:35 p.m. (EST) and the 200m dash at 7:05 p.m.
 
If Lewis advances to the final rounds, those races will take place on Sunday (June 17) with the 400m dash at 3:25 p.m. and the 200m dash at 4:25 p.m.
 
The USATF Junior Outdoor Championships, featuring hundreds of the nation's top Under-20 athletes, serve as Team USATF's selection event for the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships on July 10-15 in Finland.
 
"This level of exposure bodes well for the visibility of our track & field program and North Carolina Central University," said Walker.
 
During his first collegiate season, the 19-year-old posted season-best times of 20.82 seconds in the 200m dash preliminaries at the MEAC Championships and 47.07 seconds in the 400m dash to place second at the Raleigh Relays.
 
Lewis also qualified for the 200m and 400m dashes at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Championships, finishing 34th in the 200m dash with a time of 20.87 and placing 40th in the 400m dash with a time of 47.54.