BLACKSBURG, Va. – The North Carolina A&T indoor track and field teams returned to action on Friday and continued to have success. The Aggies came away with three wins during the first day of the Hokie Invitational hosted by Virginia Tech at Rector Field House.

Senior Jaylan Mitchell lowered his men's 60-meter time from the Jim Green Invitational at the University of Kentucky two weeks ago by finishing first in the 60m final on Friday with a time of 6.60. Mitchell had the third-fastest 60m time in the nation coming into the weekend after running 6.61 at Kentucky. He remains third in the country and No. 1 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) after Friday.

Mitchell ran a 6.70 in the 60m preliminary earlier in the day. Junior teammate Tavarius Wright, a junior college transfer, finished third behind Mitchell in the 60m with an Aggie debut time of 6.70. Senior Akeem Sirleaf finished fifth in 6.785.

Sophomore Akeem Lindo did not finish far behind in sixth place with a time of 6.787. Junior Andre Edwards, another junior college transfer, rounded out the 60m for the Aggies as he finished eighth in 6.96. Wright, Sirleaf, Lindo and Edwards all qualified for the 60m final in the same order they finished the 60m final.

Senior Madeleine Akobundu turned another great performance in the women's 60-meter hurdles. Two weeks ago at Kentucky, Akobundu posted a time of 8.10 for the fourth-fastest time in the nation. She toppled that time on Friday, winning the 60mh at Virginia Tech in 8.08. She is now third in the nation in the women's 60mh.

Sophomore teammate Paula Salmon finished second in the 60mh in 8.19. Salmon ran an 8.09 at Kentucky for the fourth-fastest time in the nation. Senior TeJyrica Robinson qualified for the women's 60mh final by running the second-fastest preliminary time of 8.21. But she did not finish in the final.

After her sterling season debut in the 60m two weeks ago, a performance that earned her national United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) women's track athlete of the week, sophomore Cambrea Sturgis returned to the track with a victory in the women's 300m. Sturgis finished in 37.71 followed by sophomore Nia Lundy who finished third in 38.75.

Sturgis still has the No. 1 time in the country in the 60m at 7.15, two-hundredths of a second ahead of Florida State's Jayla Kirkland.
N.C. A&T's other victory on Friday came in the men's 600m. In making his Aggies debut, Savannah State transfer Abbas Abbkar ran the 600 in 1:19.10 followed by senior teammate Trevor
Stewart who finished fifth in 1:20.91.

In the men's 60mh, sophomore Cedric McGriff posted a preliminary time of 7.99 for the second-fastest qualifying time. Senior Robert Miller finished fifth in the 60mh prelims in 8.20. McGriff did not finish the final and Miller placed fifth in 8.23. Junior Kayla Foy finished third in the women's 60m with a personal-best 7.38. She had the third-fastest qualifying time in the prelims at 7.40 which at the time was her personal best.

Sophomore Kamaya Debose-Epps finished sixth in the 60 (7.50) and Taliyah Townsend finished 11^th (7.58).

Action at the Hokie Invitational begins at 1:40 p.m., on Saturday. The first Aggie in action will be graduate Tori Ray in the 1:40 p.m., women's 400m.