Nineteen historically Black colleges and universities took part in the 5th annual Historically Black Colleges & University indoor track and field showcase held at the Armory in Washington Heights Saturday.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase the athletics, the intelligence and the brilliance of HBCU students right here in New York City,” said Zakia Haywood, director of college track and field with the Armory Foundation.

Athletes put their best foot forward in sprint and distance events repping campuses from as far as Florida to Maryland.

For North Carolina A&T sprinter, Paula Salmon, who’s a born and raised Brooklynite, this showcase was a chance to iron out technical kinks athletes may have during indoor track season.

“I was really trying to go for what I ran last year, but it’s a good start because I’m working on different things and bettering my technique,” said Salmon.

Salmon, who has ran at the Armory quite a few times, said she loves that this HBCU track meet because it spotlights Black schools with great programs that may not be well known to future college runners.

“I’m really enjoying this meet. I feel like it’s really good, especially like they have different HBCU’s lined up so high schoolers and [little] kids can actually come and learn about the different HBCU,” said Salmon.

Thirteen of the participating schools had their admission staffers on deck to speak directly to prospective students from the city.

“I found three schools that really stood out to me, Florida A&M, Prairie View and Delaware State,” said Diaka Conde, a student from Harlem Prep High School.

“I’ve always wanted to go to an HBCU school because I love my people and I want to be surrounded by them,” added Leila Powell, a student at Success Academy.  

The meet was sponsored by the accounting firm KPMG, who said they also gave out 100 jobs to students.

“Having the opportunity for students to come and learn about actual jobs internships for high school students to come and learn more about what the firm is, what we do,” said Elena Richards, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer with KPMG.

Another key takeaway for many of the participating athletes was the chance to drop advice on interested runners.

“I think that it’s important that you look and really pay attention to where your heart lies and know where you want to go with your future self and career,” said Leah White, an athlete at Howard University.