EAST GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T men's and women's outdoor track and field teams will get their first run at the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which are being held May 5-6 at William & Mary's Zable Stadium (Cary Field), in Williamsburg, Va.
Last year during the 2022 Big South Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the ladies won 10 events in what eventually became a second-place finish at High Point University. A few winners return this season, including Paula Salmon in the 100-meter hurdles, Julieth Nwosu in the discus, and Arrieya Harper in the triple jump. All four members who won the 4x400 last season, Ayoola Gbolade, MyKayla Perry, Fajr Kelly, and Pebbles Scott, are all back for the 2023 CAA outdoor championships.
The men lost the Big South by one point partly because of something outside their control. The men won 10 events last season. Brayden Hodgest stands as A&T's top returner from last year's outdoor championship after he won the shot put and discus, earning freshman of the year honors from the Big South.
The Aggies won the final event of the day, the 4x400. Before the event, the Panthers led the championships with 173 points, followed by Campbell (169) and A&T (167). The two-section event featured Campbell in the first section, where officials disqualified the Camels for running outside their lane. If not for the DQ, the Camels would have finished second and HPU fifth, leaving the three teams in question in a three-way tie for the conference championship.
But instead, the Aggie men were left without a track and field conference title -- indoor or outdoor -- for the first time since 2016. However, the men are in a great position to redeem themselves at the CAA outdoor championships. In the CAA rankings, the men hold top spots in almost half of the outdoor events.
Sophomore Reheem Hayles, who helped the 4x400 team win the Big South last season, will be a significant factor for the Aggies. Hayles is ranked No. 1 in the 200m (20.71) and 400m (45.47). His 400m time, earned at the Pepsi Florida Relays, sits at No. 13 nationally and No. 7 in the East Region. Also, Hayles became part of the CAA's top-ranked 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams at the Florida Relays.
Hayles raced with Brandon Nya, Shemar Chambers, and Caleb Jackson in 4x100, marking a season-low 39.87. Running with Chambers, Ryan Saint-Germain, and Akeem Lindo, the sophomore helped set the best conference time for the 4x400 at 3:05.77.
In addition to helping on the relay teams, Nya and Lindo also hold top ranks as individual performers. Nya (10.32) leads the conference in the 100-meter dash, and Lindo (51.31) leads the 400H. Nya and Lindo qualified for the Division I East Preliminary Round last year, although Nya's specialty in 2022 was the 200m.
In the field, the men are No. 1 in the shot put, discus, and long jump. Carlos Alexander holds two of those spots. Alexander leads the shot put and the discus with his personal records of 58-feet, ¼-inch and 174-feet, 11-inches, respectively.
Aeneas Reed Jr. is the top contender in the long jump, with his season best of 23-feet, 9-inches secured at the Aggie Classic.
The women's team doesn't fare as well in the rankings but still has more top-spot claims than their conference competitors. Graduate Paula Salmon ranks 16th in the country and No. 1 in the conference for the 100H, with her 13.08 run from the UF Tom Jones Memorial. Salmon qualified for the NCAA finals last year.
Jada Griffin holds the No. 1 spot in the CAA for the 400m with her time of 52.97, and she continues to be the only woman in the conference to put up sub-54 second marks. Griffin is also on the leading 4x400 team with Scott, Gbolade, and Perry. The ladies have set the lowest 4x400 time to 3:36.29.
The other chief performances for the women have come from the field. Nwosu has been a key thrower for the Aggies, and she has the best shot put in the conference with her throw of 50-feet, 7 ¼-inches. Kenady Wilson, who finished second last season behind teammate Nazah Reddick in the high jump, holds the upper hand in this season after a leap of 5-feet 8 ¾-inches at the Aggie Classic.
The showdown for conference titles begins at 9:30 a.m. on Friday with the women's hammer throw. Running events are scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. with the men's 1500-meter trials.
