FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – In a program of star sprinters, it was North Carolina A&T distance runner
Regan Kimtai who stood tall on Saturday during the second day of the Tyson Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track and Field Complex.
The Aggies also earned a victory in the men's 4x400 meter relay.
Kimtai took first place in the men's 5000 meters on Saturday. Kimtai, the Aggies No. 1 runner on the men's cross country team, ran the 5000 in a personal-best 14:55.31. Not only did Kimtai break his personal record, but he also moved into first place in the 5000 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in the event. He is now a little more than three seconds better than the second-fastest runner in Norfolk State's Evans Cheruiyot.
N.C. A&T's 4x400 meter relay team replaced N.C. A&T men's 4x400 meter relay team as the second fastest team in the nation. The Aggies came into the weekend ranked No. 2 nationally with a time of 3:05.22 completed at the Texas Tech Invitational on Jan. 30. The team that put that together was freshman
Randolph Ross and seniors
Trevor Stewart,
Akeem Sirleaf and
Elijah Young.
On Friday, the four Aggies put on the track were Stewart, senior
Elijah Young, Sirleaf and freshman
Randolph Ross. The foursome won the 4x400 by running a 3:04.12. The Aggies still trail Texas A&M's foursome who recorded a time of 3:03.21 at Texas Tech on Jan. 30.
The Aggies are ranked twice in the top-5 in the nation in the 4x400. Their B team is ranked third in the nation at 3:06.06. Sirleaf, Ross, Stewart and Young recorded that time at the Jim Green Invitational at the University of Kentucky on Jan. 10.
On the women's side, the team of senior
Tori Ray, sophomores
Cambrea Sturgis and
Nia Lundy and junior
Delecia McDuffie ran a 3:35.97 in the 4x400 to finish fourth. Their 3:35.97 beats their previous best time of 3:36.72 ran at the Carolina Challenge on Jan. 31 to keep the Aggies ranked No. 1 in the conference.
There were two second-place finishers in 200m races for the Aggies on Saturday. In the women's 200m fastest 4 SE race featuring some of the best 200m runners in the country, sophomore
Cambrea Sturgis finished second with a personal-best time of 23.02.
Sturgis came into the meet tied for fourth in the nation in the 200m with Kentucky's Abby Steiner at 23.06. Sturgis remains in fourth place but breaks the tie with her 23.02.
In the women's 200m, sophomore
Nilaja Florence finished second in 23.88. Florence's time moves her into fifth place in the MEAC in the 200m. The Aggies have seven runners in the top-10 in the conference in the 200m.
Junior
Aaron Wilkerson had a personal best in the men's shot put. His best throw went 55-feet, 9 ¾-inches. Wilkerson finished sixth with his throw and remains No. 1 in the conference in the event. Junior
Loren James finished seventh with a throw of 48-feet, ¾-inches. She is still No. 1 in the conference with a throw of 48-feet, 6 ¾-inches recorded at the Carolina Challenge on Jan. 31.
Both the men's and women's track and field teams will go after their fourth consecutive MEAC indoor titles, Feb. 28-29, in Landover, Md., at the Prince George's County Sports Learning Center.
