Track & Field | 10/28/2021 12:15:00 PM
EAST GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T men's and women's track and field teams will try to follow a historic season with even more accomplishments as the programs released their 2022 indoor and outdoor track and field schedules on Thursday.
A year ago, the Aggies officially became one of the best track and field programs, men or women, in the country. During the indoor season, they claimed the national championship in the men's 4x400-meter relay. The outdoor season brought the Aggies to even newer heights.
Along with claiming the men's and women's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships, the Aggies claimed national titles in the men's 400 meters (Randolph Ross, Jr.), the women's 100 and 200 meters (Cambrea Sturgis) and the men's 4x400 (Ross Jr., Trevor Stewart, Daniel Stokes, Akeem Sirleaf). In addition, the men and the women both finished top-5 nationally, the only school in the country to accomplish the feat.
In addition, the Aggies had a great showing at the Olympic Trials. Stewart and Ross Jr. advanced to compete in the Olympics, where they brought back to AggieLand gold medals in the 4x400. In addition, Stewart won bronze in the 4x400-mixed relays.
The Aggies believe they can accomplish even more.
"It's not easy winning championships and less easy to win them again," said Duane Ross, A&T's director of track and field programs. "I believe our schedule will keep us in the right frame of mind as we continue the mission of bringing an NCAA championship back to Greensboro."
The mission begins after the New Year during the indoor season at the University of South Carolina as the Gamecocks host the Carolina Challenge.
A year ago, the Carolina Challenge set the stage for the Aggies indoor success. A&T walked away with five first-place finishes, including the 4x400 relay team of Ross Jr., Stokes, Stewart and Elijah Young, providing a preview for their NCAA win in March. The Carolina Challenge this season will take place Jan. 21-22 at USC's Indoor Track and Field Complex.
A day after competing in South Carolina, the Aggies will compete in the JDL Flat is Fast Invitational at the JDL Fast Track indoor facility in Winston-Salem on Jan. 23. Then, A&T returns to USC, Feb. 4-5, for the South Carolina Invitational. The A&T men and women combined for two first-place finishes, four second-place finishes and two third-place finishes at last year's South Carolina Invite.
Also on Feb. 4-5, a portion of A&T's track teams will compete at the JDL Fast Track in the Camel City Invitational.
A week later, it's back to Columbia, S.C., for the USC Indoor Open, Feb. 11-12. That same weekend, some Aggies will compete at Clemson University's Tiger Paw Invite. Last season's Tiger Paw included Tavarius Wright winning the 60m, Ross Jr. winning the 200 and 400m and Javonte Harding finishing second in the 200m.
After the Tiger Paw, the Aggies will compete in the Big South Indoor Men's and Women's Championships for the first time. The conference championships will take place, Feb. 24-25 at the JDL Fast Track. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) canceled the 2021 MEAC indoor championships.
The A&T men and women won the previous four MEAC indoor titles before last year's cancelation. The Aggies will then move to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, March 11-12, in Birmingham, Ala. The Aggies have produced two indoor champions in the last two NCAA indoor events conducted as Kayla White won the women's indoor 200m in 2019 on her way to being named NCAA Indoor Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
The outdoor season begins March 18-19 at High Point University's Bill Davidson Memorial. The Aggies were dominant at last year's Bill Davidson Memorial as they came away with 12 first-place finishes and 33 top-5 finishes.
A&T will return to the University of Texas for the Texas Relays, March 23-26. The Texas Relays is where the nation took notice of A&T's 4x400 relay team who ran the fastest time in the world at 3:00.23.
The Florida Relays are scheduled to take place March 31-April 2 as the University of Florida will host the prestigious event. A week later, the Aggies will host the annual Aggie Invitational at A&T's Irwin Belk Track, April 8-9.
Another trip to USC is in order for April 15-16 at the USC Open. As the Aggie Classic comes to Irwin Belk Track, Ross and the Aggies will host their second outdoor event, April 22-23.
A&T will get another invite to the Drake Relays, April 27-30 in Des Moines, Iowa. Symone Darius and Wright had outstanding performances at Drake last year. Darius won the women's 100m and was a part of the victorious4x400 team. Wright won the 100m, and his 4x100 team was a close second.
The Aggies will host another conference championship, but it will be the Big South Men's and Women's Outdoor Championships instead of the MEAC. The Big South will come to Irwin Belk, May 11-12. The Aggies have hosted the conference championship meet every year except one since 2006. The Aggie men have won four straight outdoor conference championships; the women have won three out of the last four.
The Aggies will host another meet, a last chance event called the Aggie Twilight, on May 15. The NCAA Division I East Preliminary Meet is May 26-28 in Bloomington, Ind. The Aggies sent a school-record 27 student-athletes last season.
The Aggies will attempt to add to their national championship collection, June 8-11, during the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.
"We're very excited about our upcoming track and field season," said Ross. "Our schedule last season set us up nicely to perform at our best when it mattered most."
