Track & Field | 5/16/2021 7:17:00 PM
EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T's outdoor track and field program wanted to give schools from Division I, Division II and Division III institutions one last chance to qualify for their respective NCAA postseason meet. The Aggies hosted the Aggies Twilight Classic at Truist Stadium on Irwin Belk Track Sunday in a last chance meet that featured four Aggies earning first-place finishes.
Many of the Aggies competed to improve their standing in their respective events for the 2021 NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round, May 26-29, in Jacksonville, Fla.
Sophomore Sydni Townsend made such an effort. Townsend entered the day ranked 25th in the nation and 14th in the region in the 400-meter hurdles with the 58.09 she recorded while winning the 400mh Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) title last week.
On Sunday, Townsend did not find any competition on the track as she raced against the clock, hoping to lower her best time. But Townsend won the race in 58.36. Junior teammate Nilaja Florence finished a distant second in 59.59. Florence is 27th in the region after running a 58.98 at Irwin Belk Track on April 10.
The Aggies got another hurdles victory on Sunday when junior Cedric McGriff won the 100mh. McGriff ran a 13.94 in the prelim round before winning the final in 14.23. McGriff's 13.94 is a personal best and ranks as the 29th-best time in the region. He came into the day ranked 44th in the region with the 14.04 he ran at Irwin Belk Track last month.
McGriff has two 110nh teammates highly ranked in the region in juniors Cory Poole and MEAC 110mh champion Rasheem Brown. Poole is seventh in the region at 13.59, and Brown is eighth at 13.61.
The Aggies are not only striving to have track athletes reach the east prelims. Sophomore Kenady Wilson, the MEAC outdoor champion in the women's high jump, is 13th in the region at 5-feet, 10 ½-inches. She won the high jump on Sunday with a leap of 5-feet, 7-inches. She is 30th nationally in the high jump.
Junior Brandon Hicklin needed a big day. He won the men's long jump at the Twilight Classic with a leap of 24-feet, 5 ½-inches. Currently, he is in a good position. He is ranked 44th in the region, which today is good enough to qualify for a regional spot.
Junior Regan Kimtai, the Aggies nine-time MEAC champion (outdoor and indoor combined), had the race of the day against Catawba's Tom Joyce in the men's 800 meters. Joyce led most of the way before Kimtai made a move with approximately 200 meters remaining in the race, but he could not overcome Joyce.
Joyce won the race in 1:50.07, ahead of Kimtai's 1:50.59. In the women's 800m, sophomore Ayoola Gbolade finished second in 2:07.63 behind Norfolk State's Martha Bissah (2:06.72). Freshman Carolyn Brown placed third in the event (2:10.48), and senior G'Jasmyne Butler was sixth (2:13.20).
The 2021 Division I men and women's outdoor track and field selections will be revealed on Thursday, May 20, on NCAA.com.
