Track & Field | 5/9/2022 11:10:00 PM

HIGH POINT -- The North Carolina A&T men's and women's outdoor track and field teams want to end their short stint in the Big South Conference by leaving a lasting memory. 

Both teams are off to a good start as they competed on the first day of the Big South Conference Track and Field Championships on Monday at  High Point University's (HPU) Vert Stadium. 

The Aggies broke five Vert Stadium records, four Big South outdoor championship meet records and three Big South records on Monday. In addition, they claimed two event titles as the women are in third place with 18 points, and the men are in fifth place with 10 points. 

The HPU Panther women and men lead after Day 1, with the ladies totaling 20 points and the men scoring 70. 

Senior Brandon Hicklin started the record-breaking with his men's long jump win. Hicklin, the No. 1 long jumper in the nation, jumped a stadium-record 24-feet, 11 1/4-inches. Hicklin's first four jumps included three fouls and a 23-foot, 4-inch leap before he masterfully nailed his fifth jump to win the competition. 

Hicklin is now the owner of three long jump conference championships in his career, two outdoor and one indoor. 


Senior Jasmine Jenkins also claimed Big South gold as she took first place in the women's hammer with a throw of 179-feet, 2-inches. Her winning throw came on her first toss. Jenkins went into the championship meet ranked No. 1 in the Big South. She won the Big South championship in the weight throw during the indoor season. 

"Those two wins were expected," said A&T's director of track field programs, Duane Ross. "But it's always good as a head coach when you see your athletes come in and do what they're expected to do. I tell them this all the time, 'If you're expected to win, then that's what you better do. Or if you don't win, somebody actually beat you.'"

Later in the evening, the attention turned to the track, where the Aggies qualified multiple athletes in the men's and women's 400 hurdles and the men's and women's 200 meters. 

Senior Cory Poole opened Monday's running events by breaking the Big South record, Big South championship meet record and the Vert Stadium record, all in one preliminary 400H race. 

Poole ran a personal-best 49.81 to qualify for Wednesday's final. The Aggies had the top three qualifiers as senior Akeem Lindo ran a 51.06 for the second-fastest qualifying time, and junior Aveon Reid ran a 51.61 for the third-fastest time recorded on Monday. 

A&T also had three qualifiers in the women's 400H led by sophomore Nia Frederick, who ran the fourth-fastest qualifying time at 1:00.46. Graduate Breanne Bygrave also qualified with the fifth-fastest time (1:00.71). Freshman Amanda Kinloch will also run in the final after running a personal-best 1:02.40. 

The Aggies then showed out in the 200M. Three Aggies toppled the old meet and stadium records on the men's side. It will be sophomore Javonte' Harding's name that will go down in the record books, however. 

Harding ran the best qualifying time at 20.45, followed by junior Randolph Ross Jr. (20.50) and senior Daniel Stokes (20.57). The meet record before all three men devoured it was 20.68. The old stadium record was 20.63. Sophomore Brandon Nya also qualified at 21.21. 

In the women's 200, freshman Grace Nwokocha broke the meet record, the Big South record and the stadium record with a personal-best 22.75. The Aggies had the top four qualifiers as graduate Symone Darius ran a 23.09, graduate Delecia McDuffie ran a 23.17 and sophomore Jonah Ross completed her sprint in 23.39.  

Senior Devon Williams ran a personal-best 3:58.61 to qualify for the men's 1500M final. Graduate Loren James also scored for the Aggies in the women's hammer throw by finishing sixth with a throw of 164-feet, 1-inch. 

Sophomore Jade King scored in the women's triple jump with a fourth-place leap of 18-feet, 10 1/2-inches, a personal best for King. Sophomore Arrieya Harper jumped a personal-best 18-feet, 1/2-inch. 

"We did well today, but this will be a tough meet," said Ross. "High Point has a lot of depth in a lot of areas. But we are not going to leave the battlefield without a fight, so we are going to come out here and do what we do and get ready for the regionals and the nationals in the process." 

Tuesday's action at Vert Stadium begins at 2:30 p.m.