WINSTON-SALEM – The North Carolina A&T men's and women's indoor track and field teams kicked off their respective seasons at the JDL College Kick-off Saturday at the JDL Fast Track.
Some of the Aggies bigger and well-known names did not compete but the young Aggies held their own as N.C. A&T came away with three first-place finishes, 10 top-5 finishes and 22 top-10 finishes.
?"We like to use the early December meet to give us a mental and physical break from the training we've endured the last three months," said
Duane Ross, N.C. A&T's director of track and field programs. "It also reminds our student-athletes of why we train – competition. We want to see all of our new student-athletes execute what they've been taught so far this season and our returning athletes show improvement from where they were last season at this meet.
None of our top runners will perform this early. Their training is going well this fall and we continue to build on that in preparation for the long season which includes the Olympic Trials and Olympic Games."
The Aggies, who are known for their outstanding sprinters, opened the 2019-20 season looking great in the throws highlighted by junior
Aaron Wilkerson's win in the men's shot put. Wilkerson threw a personal-best 55-feet, 2-inches to win the event. Wilkerson bettered his previous best indoor throw by more than seven inches.
Sophomore
Obie Taylor finished third behind Wilkerson as his toss went 51-feet, 11 ¼-inches. It was a career-best throw for Taylor. Taylor outdid his previous personal-best by three inches.
Wilkerson, junior
Kevin Fofanah and Taylor also competed in the men's weight throw where they finished third, fourth and sixth respectively. Wilkerson's best throw went 55-feet, 5 ½-inches while Fofanah finished with a throw of 51-feet, 9-inches and Taylor recorded his best throw at 48-feet, 8 ¼-inches.
"?I continue to be amazed at how great a job Coach
Amber Monroe is doing with our throwers," said Ross.
The Aggies other win that came off the track was senior
Jayne Roberts' win in the women's pole vault. Roberts finished first by clearing the bar at 10-feet, 6-inches. It was Roberts first career indoor victory and her second victory overall after she won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) outdoor championship in 2019.
The other win came on track as sophomore
Shalah Means won the women's 800 meters. Means finished in 2:21.91. It was Means' first career victory. It was her best indoor time since running a 2:19.59 at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Jan. 12, 2019.
"We have only had success at the NCAA championships in the sprinting events so far, and the expectation is that every event area will be represented at these championships," said Ross. "It's going to take a team effort to bring home this NCAA title."
The women's side of the throws was successful too on Saturday as the Aggies placed three in the top-10 of the weight throw. Sophomore Jasmine Jenkins finished third followed by junior
Loren James in fourth and junior
Kayla Brown in ninth. Jenkins' throw went a personal-best 54-feet, 6-inches followed by James (53-feet, 7 ¾-inches) and Brown (47-feet, 6 ¼-inches) who threw a personal-best.
The Aggies other top-5 finishes including senior
Mar'Quise McGee finishing fourth in the men's mile (4:20.62) and sophomore Kolby Cuthrell finishing fifth in the men's long jump (22-feet, 9-inches).
The Aggies return to action Jan. 10-11 when they compete in Jim Green Invitational hosted by the University of Kentucky.
