CARY, NC – Junior Fajr Kelly finished second, and freshman teammate Ryan Prioleau finished third to lead the North Carolina A&T women's cross country team to a third-place finish at the 2023 Cedric Walker HBCU Challenge at the Great American Cross Country Festival at WakeMed Soccer Park Friday night.
The A&T men finished fourth in the 8k event led by junior Kylan Willis, who ran an 8k career-best 25:23.7, besting his former career-best of 26:12.3 posted when he ran at Iowa Western Community College.
The Aggie women scored 65 points, finishing behind first-place Norfolk State (38) and second-place Fayetteville State (51). Led by Willis, the men totaled 87 points. Norfolk State also won on the men's side, finishing with 51 points ahead of North Carolina Central, who posted 66 points. Fayetteville State finished third.
For Kelly, her second-place finish is the highest of her career. She completed the 5k event in 19:17.7. Kelly finished a little more than 26 seconds behind Norfolk State's Mercyline Kimaiyo, who won the race in 18:51.6. Meanwhile, Prioleau had the best 5k run of her short career. Prioleau finished with a collegiate 5k career-best 19:24.9. Prioleau ran the first 2k in 7:25.9, an exact second behind Kelly's first 2k of 7:24.9.
Senior Camille Herring gave the Aggies three runners in the top-10 for the first time this season. Herring placed 10th in 19:53.8. Herring's time is a 5k personal best, topping her old fastest time from three weeks ago at the Adidas XC Challenge on the same course by 37 seconds (20:22.7).
Senior Jayla Jones missed her 5k personal best by 1.5 seconds as she finished 24th in 20:58.6. Junior Tashianna Gray rounded the A&T top-5 by finishing 26th in 21:22.6.
Willis had his highest finish of the season on the men's side. He was in ninth place after the first 2k of the race, running a 6:14.2. He moved up five spaces over the next 2.8k to settle into the No. 4 spot. Sophomore teammate Dawson Grogan placed 16th with a personal-best 27:22. Veteran runner Jalen Chin returned to the Aggies lineup to earn a top-20 finish as he crossed in 27:54.6.
Freshman Kaleb Conway also had a personal best on Friday, running a 28:25.3 to finish 25th. Dae'Shawn Griffin rounded out the A&T men's top-5 with a time of 28:34.9. The Aggies return to action next week when they travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to compete in the USC Upstate Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 9 a.m.
