Track & Field | 3/11/2022 11:49:00 AM
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The assumption could have easily been that Randolph Ross Jr. would never wear a North Carolina A&T track and field uniform again after the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. last June.
After all, the Aggies talented 400-meter runner had a highly-documented 2021. He teamed with Elijah Young, Daniel Stokes, and Trevor Stewart to win the 4x400-meter relay indoor national championship in March. In addition, he finished second nationally in the indoor 400M.
The outdoor season brought even more national success as he won the national title in the 400M and teamed with Stewart, Stokes and Akeem Sirleaf to pull off the national championship double in the 4x400.
He wasn't done, of course. He qualified for the Olympic Trials in Oregon and used the event to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 400M and 4x400. The Olympic Games were conducted in the summer of 2021 because of the COVID pandemic a year earlier. Ross Jr. even came back to the United States with a gold medal.
Therefore, the conclusion that Ross Jr. would be a professional track and field athlete in 2022 could be easy to make.
But he is not. Instead, Ross Jr. and his teammates are in Birmingham, Ala., for the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham Crossplex, March 11-12. He will compete in the 400M and 4x400.
Men's indoor track and field teammates Brandon Hicklin (long jump), Javonte Harding (200M), Stokes (200M, 4x400), Akeem Lindo (4x400), Leonard Mustari (60 hurdles), Rasheem Brown (60H) and Young (4x400) join Ross Jr. in Alabama.
The women's track and field team has two ladies representing the Aggies in graduate 200M runner Symone Darius and graduate 60 hurdler Paula Salmon.
"There is not as much pressure as it would seem," Ross Jr. said about participating in the national indoor championships. "For me, I know what my goals and ambitions are, so I just need to stay focused and go out there and perform."
Ross Jr. is here with his teammates because his decision about returning to college became a more profound thought process than winning event national championships and gold medals.
During a press conference with the NCAA this week, Ross Jr. made it clear the decision to return to A&T was his own. However, he did consult his father, who happens to be the director of track and field programs at A&T, Duane Ross, about whether to remain a student-athlete.
"He explained to me what the situation was going forward if I left," said Ross Jr. "He explained the money that would come in and how everything would change. It was most definitely a benefit to get the view from that side without going all the way to find out. But staying in school was my decision."
First on Ross Jr.'s priority list is getting his college education sooner rather than later. The pandemic also played a role. During Ross Jr.'s freshman season, COVID forced the 2020 NCAA indoor nationals and the 2020 outdoor season into cancelation. Therefore, Ross Jr. has only had one full season (indoor and outdoor) of track and field. Ross Jr. felt it wise to experience another track and field season.
"I wasn't so much into chasing the paycheck that would have come with going pro," said Ross Jr. "I decided to focus on getting stronger and perfecting my craft. I thought staying for another year in college was the best way to do that."
Then there is the matter of the gold medal. Not many people on the planet, past, present or future, will ever be able to say they earned one.
But when you're Ross Jr., it's bigger than the gold medal. It's about controlling your destiny toward receiving that gold medal.
Ross Jr. did not have a good 400M qualifying race and failed to reach the final. He believes that led to him competing in the 4x400 preliminary race but not in the final. Every U.S. member who participated in a 4x400 event received a gold medal, but that's not how Ross Jr. dreamed of getting gold.
"He's been on fire since we got back from Tokyo," said Ross Jr.'s father, Duane. "He wants to go above and beyond. Not making the 400-meter final lit a fire under him. Sometimes as an athlete, that disappointment burns the fire a little hotter than the successes. He realized he missed an opportunity."
Ross told his son in Tokyo to never put himself in a situation where other people make decisions for him. So when Ross heard his son repeat that in an interview two weeks ago, it was not only a proud moment for the dad but an indication his son was in the right frame of mind.
As Ross Jr. returned to college, life changed to seek team and individual national championships. Despite how he received the gold medal, he was a gold medalist. When he shows up to a meet, he can feel more eyes staring at him than was the case in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
But Ross Jr. looks past his new celebrity status in the track and field world because he and his teammates are in Birmingham on a mission.
"Last year going into nationals, my nerves were shaking," said Ross Jr. "Every collegiate race used to make me a nervous wreck. Now going into it, everything seems a little calmer and relaxed. I'm more focused on what I need to do in the race and being technical than worrying about who's racing beside me."
