COLUMBIA, SC – North Carolina A&T is taking over top spots in the Southeast Region, and sophomore Reheem Hayles is perfect. On Day 2 of the University of South Carolina's Carolina Challenge, the North Carolina A&T men's and women's indoor track and field athletes showed dominance in the 400-meter events.
In the second-to-last event of the day, the men's 4x400 relay team scored first place with an impressive 3:06.81. Brandon Nya, Reheem Hayles, Shemar Chambers, and Ryan Saint-Germain moved to No. 1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), topping No. 2 Hampton by more than seven seconds. They are No. 1 in the Southeast Region and rank 10th nationally.
Hayles has had a brilliant start to the season, winning all four races he has competed in thus far, including Saturday's 400m Invitational with a time of 46.30. It's the fastest time in the CAA, the second-fastest in the Southeast Region and the eighth-fastest in the country.
On the women's side, senior Jada Griffin took gold in the 400m with an indoor personal-best 53.97. She remains atop the CAA, and Saturday time ranks third in the region. Griffin also captured a third-place finish in the women's 4x400 alongside teammates Fajr Kelly, Ayoola Gbolade, and Mykayla Perry. Their 3:42.24 run leads the CAA by a 10-second gap and ranks fifth in the region.
Gbolade followed her 800m win last week at the HBCU Showcase Challenge with a second-place showing on Saturday, posting a time of 2:06.92. She finished behind second-ranked 800m Southeast runner Megan Marvin of Furman. Gbolade has the fastest 800m time in the CAA. It ranks third regionally and 12th nationally. Kelly finished sixth (2:11.27), but that time is the second-fastest in the league behind Gbolade.
Runners from the men's 200m team also gave solid performances. Junior Shemar Chambers ran a PR of 20.96 to take second place, and junior Brandon Nya (21.41) and senior Kendall Turner (21.67) took sixth and eighth. Chambers, Nya and Turner rank 1,2 and 4 in the conference rankings. With freshman Isaac Henderson and graduate Malcolm Croom-McFadden, the Aggies have five sprinters ranked in the top-10 of the 200m in the conference.
Sophomore Brayden Hodgest led the way in the field events for the men. Hodgest, the reigning CAA field athlete of the week, finished third in the shot put on Saturday. His best throw measured 56-feet, 4-inches. Junior Julieth Nwoso led the way for the women, finishing fourth in the women's shot put with a season-best 46-feet, 2 ½ inches.
The Aggies plan to return to the University of South Carolina for the South Carolina Invitational, Feb. 3-4. In addition, a few Aggies will travel to Winston-Salem to compete in the Camel City Invitational at the JDL Fast Track.
