Track & Field | 2/4/2023 10:02:00 PM
COLUMBIA, SC – It is unusual to utter, but North Carolina A&T's only win on Saturday during Day 2 of the South Carolina Invitational hosted by the University of South Carolina at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex came in a field event. Sort of.
Senior thrower Julieth Nwosu secured the sole win for the Aggies indoor track and field men's and women's teams with a dominating performance in the women's shot put.
Nwosu's best throw measured a personal best 54-feet, 6 ½-inches to shatter her previous PR of 48-feet, 1 ¼-inches. No one came within a foot and a half of Nwosu in Saturday's competition, and the discrepancy is even larger in the conference rankings. Nwosu moved to No. 1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), where there is nearly a five-foot gap between her and second-ranked William & Mary shot putter Keeley Suzenski.
Nwosu moves to 27th nationally and third in the southeast region. Currently, the qualifying mark for nationals is 55-feet, 10 ½ inches.
Then there's sort of. Junior Reheem Hayles came into the day undefeated in his first five races of the season, including Friday's win in the 400 meters at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex. Hayles' five-race winning streak did end with a second-place finish in the men's 200m dash. It was Hayles' debut in the event. His 21.52 places him third in the conference. Teammates Shemar Chambers (20.96) and Brandon Nya (21.41) still hold the top two spots, respectively. Chambers competed in the 200m invite and placed fifth in 21.39.
It also appeared that Hayles may have also lost his undefeated streak in the 4x400. Hayles, Nya, Chambers and graduate transfer Ryan Saint-Germain finished their 4x400-meter relay race in 3:07.44. They finished second behind an unattached team of professionals who ran a 3:04.99. That means Hayes and his teammates remain undefeated against collegiate competition despite not getting the win.
Graduate Jada Griffin also made moves in the rankings. She ran her first 200m race of the season, pulling out a personal-best indoor time of 23.88. Her third-place finish instantly propelled her to No. 1 in the CAA.
There were other impressive outings in the field events outside of Nwosu's impressive showing. Senior Kenady Wilson made her season debut in the women's high jump with a third-place finish of 5-feet, 8-inches. Last year, Wilson took gold in the high jump at the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships. She also has an outdoor high jump Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship. She is tied for third in the conference.
The Aggies had a few more top-five performances scattered throughout the day. Graduate Ayoola Gbolade placed fourth in the women's 800m in 2:07.68, and sophomore Brayden Hodgest took fourth in the men's shot put with a launch of 56-feet, 5 ¼-inches. Finding a new personal best, freshman Qualiar Newton finished fifth with a men's weight throw of 56-feet, 6 ½-inches. Gbolade and Hodgest remain No. 1 in the CAA for their respective events.
Next up for the Aggie indoor track and field athletes is the prestigious Tiger Paw Invite hosted by Clemson University, Feb. 10-11. It is a competitive competition where athletes come to set their NCAA indoor championship qualifying times and marks.
