East Orange Star Akeem Lindo Picks His College


Akeem Lindo of East Orange Campus, one of the state's premier hurdlers and sprinters, said on Tuesday night that he will sign his National Letter of Intent with North Carolina A&T University when the signing period begins on Wednesday.

Lindo, who also took official visits to Ohio State, Hampton, and Houston, said he will sign on Wednesday (April 11) in the library at East Orange.  

Lindo has built a remarkable resume during his career at East Orange.

At the Meet of Champions last spring, Lindo finished second in 110 hurdles for the second straight year, and was sixth in the 400 hurdles.

This past indoor season, Lindo ran a NJ # 1 and US #9 7.31 in the 55 hurdles when he finished first at the state Group 4 meet, and he ran on the East Orange 4x400, shuttle hurdles and sprint medley relays, which all placed second at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.  

Lindo, who has won several state individual titles and has led EO to multiple Group 4 state titles in both track and field and the relay championships, also owns personal bests of 6.37 in the 55 dash, 10.82 in the 100 dash, 14.17 in the 110 hurdles, 21.73 in the 200, 53.05 in the 400 hurdles and 49.06 in the 400.

Why North Carolina A&T? 

"I fell in love with everything about it right from the jump,'' Lindo said of the school that's located in Greensboro, N.C. and hosts the New Balnace Outodor Nationals. "The track team treated me like family right away. They made me feel so at home. It reminded me of East Orange. And I love the coaches and the atmosphere. I knew it was the place for me.''

Another reason that Lindo, who plans to major in Aeronautical Engineering, loved North Carolina A&T was because NASA has a facility near the campus. 

 "I heard there are internships available at NASA, and I really want to get into aeronautics, so that's another great reason to go to North Carolina A&T,'' said Lindo. "It has everything I need.''     

Lindo, who opened his season on March 31 with a NJ #1 37.1 victory in the 300 hurdles at the Rough Rider Relays at Schools Stadium in Newark, has some big goals for his fina high school outdoor season.

"I really want to win the 400 hurdles at Penn, the Meet of Championsand at Nationals, and go under 50,'' said Lindo, who will be running the 400 hurdles, the 4x400 and the 200 on the SMR at the Bullis Invitational this Saturday in Maryland. 

Lindo is also eying the NJ record of 49.88 set last year by his former teammate Cory Poole (now starring at the University of Florida). 

"That's what I'm going for,'' said Lindo. "I'm working hard everyday to get it.''