Track & Field | 4/29/2022 10:00:00 PM
DES MOINES, IOWA – The North Carolina A&T men's 4x100-meter relay team broke the meet record at the Drake Relays Friday to highlight an outstanding showing for the Aggies men's and women's outdoor track field team at Drake Stadium.
The Aggies 4x100 team of senior Tavarius Wright, junior Randolph Ross Jr., senior Daniel Stokes and sophomore Javonte' Harding ran a meet-record 38.84 in the third heat to qualify for Saturday's final scheduled for 418 p.m. eastern standard time (EST).
A&T's 4x100 came into the meet ranked No. 2 in the nation at 38.61. The University of Florida is just ahead of the Aggies at 38.47.
Ross Jr., the defending national champion in the 400 meters, won the 400 at the Drake Relays with a time of 44.95. As it stands on Friday, Ross Jr's time ties Ohio State's Tyler Johnson for the fastest time in the NCAA Division I East Region. In addition, it is tied for the second-fastest time in the nation. Freshman teammate Reheem Hayles placed sixth in 47.75.
On Friday, the Aggies won two other finals as graduate Delecia McDuffie won the women's 200M. McDuffie won the event in 23.44. McDuffie's best time of the season – 22.89 – has her tied for eighth in the region with freshman teammate Grace Nowokcha.
Senior Cory Poole was a winner in the men's 400 hurdles. Poole finished in 50.27 a week after running a personal-best 50.18 at the Aggie Classic hosted by A&T at Marcus T. Johnson Track last week. Poole's 50.18 has him ranked fourth in the East region. Junior teammate
Aveon Reid placed seventh in 52.17. Reid tied for 12th in the region after running a 51.14 at A&T's Aggie Invitational on April 9 at Marcus T. Johnson Track.
Nowokcha had success on Friday. She had the fastest-qualifying time in the women's 100M at 11.55 as she won the first heat. Graduate Symone Darius had the third-fastest qualifying time as she crossed first in the second heat at 11.73. On Saturday, the two ladies will compete in the 100M final at 3:24 p.m. EST.
The Aggies also had qualifying times in the men's 100M and the 110H. Stokes and Harding qualified for the Saturday 100 final at 3:30 p.m. EST. Strokes won the second heat in 10.75 and recorded the fourth-fastest qualifying time. Harding won heat No. 3 in 10.77 to record the fifth-fastest qualifying time.
Senior Rasheem Brown had the third-fastest qualifying time in the 110H as he won the first heat in 14.22. The 110H final is scheduled for 3:51 p.m. EST Saturday.
As great as the Aggies men's 4x100 team has been, the ladies have been just as terrific. The team of Darius, Nowokcha, senior Kamaya Debose-Epps and McDuffie won the first heat on Friday in 44.33. Kentucky took the fastest qualifying time in 43.65. The ladies' 4x100 final is before the men's at 4:13 p.m. EST.
