WASHINGTON (April 30, 2020) – Hailing from New Orleans, standing at 6-feet-tall, Dominique Cleggett's athletic career at Howard has remained unmatched in recent years.
 
From the moment she set foot on campus, she was dedicated to dreaming big and working hard. She received a scholarship for volleyball, but without track, she might not have left her mark.
 
During the 2015 volleyball season, she played 32 matches where she finished with 134 kills and a team-best 102 blocks (12 solo). Her 0.95 blocks per set ranked fifth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), but this was just the beginning for Cleggett.
 
She went on to win back-to-back MEAC Volleyball Championships while making two NCAA Tournament appearances. And in her senior year, she decided to try track.
 
Although she was not new to the sport, she knew being away from track for three years might pose a challenge; however, she tackled it with grace.
 
Cleggett ended up winning the long jump title at the historic Penn Relays with a jump of 20 feet 3 inches (6.19 meters), becoming the first woman from Howard to do so in 35 years.
 
Later that season, she went on to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Round. Thus, becoming the only Howard female student-athlete to compete at the NCAA Tournament or Preliminary Rounds in two different sports (track & field and volleyball).
 
When asked about which sport she loves more, she adamantly states she can't choose.
 
And to date, she continues working as a coach, training student-athletes in track and volleyball at West Jefferson High in Louisiana. Cleggett works as a science teacher and says her degree from Howard makes her experience even more worthwhile.
 
She tells her student-athletes often, "To go hard every day because nothing lasts forever; you must work hard to have great memories to share."
 
Her cousin and current volleyball team member Alex Smith is now at Howard, walking in her footsteps. Cleggett is without a doubt one Bison who has been unmatched in recent years.
 
About Where Are They Now?
 
The new weekly series of "Where Are They Now?" appears each Thursday throughout the year.
 
The series will feature former student-athletes from all sports and eras, highlighting their careers as athletes at the University and what they are presently doing.
 
All interested former athletes and their coaches should submit a short bio, a recent head shot and contact information on how they can be reached via email to Lauren Stewart (lauren.stewart@bison.howard.edu) and Derek W. Bryant (derek.bryant@howard.edu).
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.