ORANGEBURG, S.C. – SC State junior Antavia Owens and senior Barry Bethea will compete at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminary Championship, in the 100 meters and 400-meter hurdles, respectively, in Jacksonville, Fla. at the University of North Florida. Competition begins Thursday afternoon and runs through Saturday.
 
Owens qualified for the preliminaries in April when she ran the 100 meters in 11.61 at the Florida Relays. In that race, she was 16^th of the 59 finishers in the University section.
 
Bethea, the reigning MEAC 400-meter hurdles champion, posted a regionals-qualifying time of 51.16 to win the gold medal at the conference championships. Bethea's time ranks 10^th among the 48 individuals who qualified for the East Preliminary.
 
Qualifiers out of the East and West regions – the West Preliminary is at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas – will compete in the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 11-14 in Eugene, Oregon.