ELON, NC – The North Carolina A&T men's and women's cross country teams participated in the 2024 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships on Friday at the Elon Cross Country Course.
The A&T men finished ninth in the 8k event, while the women placed 13th in the 8k race. The Aggie men scored 276 points, led by senior Kylan Willis, and the women scored 386 points, led by senior Fajr Kelly. Stony Brook captured the men's title in the closest team finish in conference history. It was the third straight title for the Seawolves, who scored 48 points and edged second-place Northeastern (49 points) by a single point.
Northeastern senior Benjamin Godish claimed the individual title for the second straight year, posting a winning time of 24:11.40. He finished ahead of Hofstra junior Abraham Longosiwa for the first 6,000 meters before pulling away on the final loop. Longosiwa placed second with a time of 24:22.20.
On the women's side, Northeastern had three runners finish in the top nine and claimed its first-ever CAA title. Leading the way for the Huskies was graduate student Abigail Hassman, who became the first runner in conference history to earn three consecutive individual titles with a winning time of 20:08.1. Hampton freshman Peninah Mutisya placed second at 20:23.6.
Northeastern finished with 44 points to take the top spot, William & Mary came in second with 54 points, and five-time defending champion Elon took third with 63 points.
A&T's Willis placed 35th overall and scored 31 points for the Aggies by running a 26:20.30. Willis's first 2k split was run in 6:13.30, which had him in 28th place then. Junior Abdiselam Green had the second-fastest time with a time of 28:02.10 to finish 70thoverall, scoring 53 points for A&T. Freshman Abishek Pradhan finished a few seconds behind in 28:12.80 to score 55 points for the Aggies by finishing 73rd.
In her final cross country race, Kelly ran a 23:01.00 to place 60th overall. She scored 49 points for A&T. Sophomore Nina Story ran 27:00.70 to score 82 points for the Aggies, and senior Ania Campbell finished in 27:14.80.
