VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – The first-ever Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Indoor Track and Field Championships are underway at the Virginia Beach Sports Center, with the North Carolina A&T women's indoor track and field team needing a boost from sprinters on Championship Thursday. Meanwhile, the men positioned themselves to make a significant climb on Thursday.
The Aggie men are in fifth place with 19 points. Monmouth leads with 51 points, followed by Northeastern (40 points) and Stony Brook (30) to round out the top-3. The Aggie women are in last place with two points, as Northeastern leads with 57. Elon is in second place (38.5), followed by Delaware (28), Hampton (26) and College of Charleston (18.5) to round out the top-5.
Putting most of the points on the board for the men were sophomore Aeneas Reed, Jr. in the long jump and freshman Qualiar Newton in the weight throw. Both athletes finished third in their respective events, adding six points a piece to the Aggies' tally.
The Aggies can score up to 24 points in the men's 400 meters on Thursday after junior Reheem Hayles (46.27), junior Shemar Chambers (47.06) and graduate Ryan Saint-Germain (48.28) had the fastest three qualifying times in the 400m on Wednesday. The same holds for the men's 200m. A maximum of 24 points are available after Chambers (21.21) and Hayles (21.28) had the top-2 qualifying times in the 200m. junior Brandon Nya had the fourth-fastest qualifying time at 21.68.
Graduate Kendall Turner qualified in the 60m preliminaries with a personal-record time of 6.85. Freshmen Jason Holmes (7.90) and Thomas Smith (7.99) secured spots in the 60-meter hurdles finals, giving the Aggies an opportunity to score 18 points.
Graduate Jada Griffin put in overtime for the women's team on Wednesday, running in three prelims. In addition to qualifying for the 200m in 24.30 and the 400m in 54.94, Griffin ran her first 60m event, crossing the line with the third-lowest prelim time (7.59).
Sophomore Pebbles Scott also competed in the 200m and 400m prelims, finding qualifying times of 24.45 and 56.09. Graduate Ayoola Gbolade qualified for the 400m and 800m events. Gbolade had the fastest 800m qualifying time at 2:11.52. Her 55.34 qualifying time allows her to join Griffin and Scott in the 200m final.
Unfortunately for the women, All-American graduate Paula Salmon was disqualified from the 60H competition, but sophomore Lucheyona Weaver (8.45) had the top qualifying mark in the event.
There are more available points for both teams, mainly in field events. On the men's side, the Aggies have two entries in the shot put with sophomores Brayden Hodgest and Carlos Alexander. In addition, Reed and sophomore Kendrell Goodes will give it a try in the triple jump, and Goodes will also compete in the high jump.
For the ladies, Salmon and senior Kenady Wilson will compete in the high jump. Wilson won the Big South Conference indoor championship in 2022 with a leap of 5-feet, 9 ¾ inches. Wilson will also enter the triple jump with teammates Olivia Dowd and Jade King. The shot put will feature Julieth Nwosu and Taylor Reagor. Nwosu leads the CAA in the event (54-feet, 6 ½ inches).
More points are available on the track as well. The ladies will compete in the 4x800 with sophomore Fajr Kelly, junior Ania Campbell, senior Camille Herring and Gbolade. The men will also field a 4x800 team with junior Jalen Chin, freshman Dawson Grogan, senior Dae'Shawn Griffin and freshman Knox Witherspoon.
Of course, the Aggies conference-leading 4x400 team features Hayles, Chambers, Saint-Germain and freshman Jayden Crosby. On Thursday, the CAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will resume, starting with heptathlon events at 9 a.m. The awards ceremony is expected to take place at 4 p.m.
The women are trying to win their sixth straight indoor conference title over three conferences. Meanwhile, the men are trying to win their fifth indoor title in six tries.
