Track & Field | 2/25/2022 10:12:00 PM
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The North Carolina A&T men's indoor track and field team had its streak of four straight indoor conference championships snapped on Friday after Campbell claimed the indoor title at the 2022 Big South Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the JDL Fast Track.
Duane Ross, the Aggies director of track and field championships, decided not to have some of the athletes in the world compete this week at the conference championships because of the flat surface at the JDL.
Therefore, sophomore Javonte' Harding, junior Randolph Ross Jr. and senior
Daniel Stokes did not compete in various races. That means three of the best 200-meter runners in the world did not participate. In the case of Ross Jr. and Stokes, two of the best 400M runners in the nation did not run. In the case of Ross Jr., he is the best 400M runner in the world.
Still, Ross expected his team to win its fifth straight conference title.
"I thought we still had a chance to win it," said Ross. "That part is a little disappointing. But at the same time, this is a good thing too. It might be what our team needed. You have to show up. You have to hold each other accountable to win championships."
Campbell led the way with 141 points, followed by High Point University (123), A&T (116), Charleston Southern (89) and USC Upstate (66) in the top-5. Campbell fueled its championship push by placing first, second, third and fourth in the triple jump.
The Aggies certainly could have been an equal force in the 200M with the trio of Ross Jr., Harding and Stokes. However, even without the trio, the Aggies had four sprinters score in the event led by freshman
Markevus Jackson's second-place finish at 21.41. Freshman
Shemar Chambers (3rd, 21.64), senior
Tavarius Wright (5th, 21.79) and sophomore
Brandon Nya (7th, 22.06) also scored in the 200M.
Jackson did keep the 400M in the hands of the Aggies in Ross Jr.'s absence. He won with a personal-record (PR) 47.39. Chambers also scored by finishing third in with a PR of 48.25. As expected, the 60-hurdles was also kind to A&T. But there was a twist.
Senior
Rasheem Brown broke the Big South indoor conference meet record by finishing in 7.65. Senior
Cedric McGriff finished third in 7.87. Surprisingly, freshman
Leonard Mustari, ranked second in the nation in the 60H, finished fourth in 8.18.
Wright joined Brown and Jackson in taking gold on Friday. Wright won the 60M in 6.71. Harding did run the 60 and finished second in 6.75. Senior
Brandon Hicklin (4th, 6.80) and senior
Malcolm Croom-McFadden (7th, 6.87) also scored.
Sophomore
Jalen Chin also scored for the Aggies in the 800 by finishing third in 1:52.74. Chan's PR is 1:52.67.
The Aggies, who typically dominate the 4x400-meter relay at conference meets, finished second on Friday with their B team. Seniors
Elijah Young and
Akeem Lindo and freshman Brandon Hayles and Nya ran a 3:15.24.
"If we execute the way we are supposed to, I think this is a different meet," said Ross. "I think this was a learning experience for us. You show up in a championship meet if you're a championship team. We'll learn from this and take into outdoor."
