JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Carolina A&T men's track and field program put on display two of the nation's best 400-meter runners on Friday at the University of North Florida at Hodges Stadium, and they did not disappoint.
Senior Trevor Stewart ran the second-fastest time in the nation this season by posting a 44.52 to win the 400 meters ahead of freshman teammate Randolph Ross, Jr., who crossed the finish line in 44.69 to finish second. Stewart broke the Hodges Stadium facility record with his performance.
Ross Jr.'s time ranks him fourth in the nation behind LSU's Noah Williams (44.30), Stewart and Texas A&M's Bryce Deadmon (44.58). Senior Elijah Young finished fourth on Friday with a time of 45.98. Young is ranked 24th in the country after his performance.
Stewart, Ross Jr., and Young are ranked 1,2 and 3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in the 400m.
N.C. A&T had two other first-place finishes on Friday, including fifth-year senior Abbas Abbkar claiming the 800m race in 1:48.81. Abbkar's time places him as the No. 1 800m runner in the MEAC. Nationally, he ranks 30th.
The Aggies also had a win in the 4x400-meter relay. The team of Abbkar, freshman Javonte Harding, junior Cory Poole and senior Akeem Sirleaf crossed the finish line in 3:05.72. The Aggies 4x400 team of Ross Jr., Stewart, Young and junior Daniel Stokes are still ranked first in the nation after their 3:00.23 at Texas Relays in March.
Two other 4x400 N.C. A&T teams are ranked in the top-20 nationally. Ross Jr., Stokes, Sirleaf and Stewart ran a 3:02.14 at Drake Relays on April 22 for the fifth-best time in the nation. Friday's foursome is now 19th in the country.
On the women's side, senior TeJyrica Robinson had a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles. Robinson finished in 13.20 behind Jamaican standout Brittany Anderson who crossed in 12.91. Robinson ran a 12.971 at N.C. A&T's Irwin Belk Track on April 10 to rank 14th in the nation. Sophomore Ayoola Gbolade finished eighth in the 800m at 2:09.01.
In the men's 110mh, Rasheem Brown had a fifth-place finish in 13.94. The Aggies have two 110-meter hurdlers ranked in the top-15. Poole is 12th after running a 13.59 at the University of South Carolina on April 17. Brown is 14th with a time of 13.65 completed at N.C. A&T on April 10. Poole and Brown are 1,2 in the MEAC, with senior Cedric McGriff fifth at 14.04.
Junior Tavarius Wright had a fifth-place finish in the men's 100m on Friday with a time of 10.19. Wright's 10.06 still stands as the second-fastest time in the MEAC. His 10.06 is not nationally ranked because he had a 4.1 wind at Texas Relays when he ran. Instead, Wright's 10.19 ranks him 11th in the nation.
