Track & Field | 2/10/2024 10:23:00 PM
CLEMSON, S.C./LEXINGTON, Va. – North Carolina A&T junior middle distance runner Fajr Kelly sent a strong message on Saturday that she is ready to capture her first-ever track and field conference championship as an individual. At the prestigious Tiger Paw Invitational hosted by Clemson University at the Clemson Indoor Track and Field Facility, Kelly ran a personal-best 2:06.56 to win the women's 800 meters.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, the Aggies swept the men's and women's shot put events at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Winter Classic at the VMI Corps Physical Training Facility as junior Braydon Hodgest won on the men's side and junior Sage Sumpter won on the women's side.
At Clemson, Kelly moves back into the No. 1 spot in the women's 800 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) after briefly dropping to No. 2 after Hampton's Jordan Mozie ran a 2:06.95 last week at the South Carolina Invitational. Kelly won her heat by beating Georgia's Dominique Mustin, who ran a personal-best 2:07.88. She also had to outlast Alabama's Hogue McKenzie, who also ran a personal best at 2:09.41.
Kelly had the only win at Clemson on Saturday, but there were a few more personal and season bests for the Aggies. A&T's men's 4x400-meter relay team of freshmen Xzaviah and Isaiah Taylor, junior Aeneas Reed and graduate Shemar Chambers ran an SB 3:08.10.
The foursome won their heat by besting the Ohio State Buckeyes, who ran a season-best 3:08.62. They finished seventh overall. A&T's 4x400 team ranks No. 1 in the CAA. Campbell ranks No. 2 behind the Aggies after the Fighting Camels ran a 3:09.24 at the University of Arkansas's Tyson Invitational on Saturday.
Division I transfer My'Khiyah Williams tied a career-best in the women's high jump when she leaped the bar at 5 feet, 7 inches to finish fifth. It tied the 5-foot-, 7-inch jump she had as a Purdue Boilermaker on Feb. 26, 2022. A&T also had a good showing in the men's triple jump.
Joseph Palmer finished second in his flight and 15th overall by leaping 49 feet, 3 inches. Palmer's 49-foot, 5 3/4-inch jump in New York on Jan. 26 still has him ranked No. 2 in the conference by Campbell's Charles McBride II. Palmer's freshman teammate Xavier Partee jumped a PB 49 feet, 1 3/4 inches to finish third in his flight and 16th overall. Partee's jump moves into the No. 3 ranking in the CAA.
In addition, two Aggies posted personal bests in the men's 200m. Senior Caleb Jackson finished second in his heat and 27th overall by running a 21.38. Jackson's PB moved him into fifth place in the conference behind four Campbell sprinters. Chambers won his heat by running an SB of 21.57. He ranks him 11th in the league. Junior Pebbles Scott closed out the PBs for the Aggies as she ran a 23.99 in the women's 200m. She finished third in her heat and 36th overall while moving into fourth place in the CAA.
Meanwhile, at VMI, Hodgest and Sumpter dominated the shot put events. Hodgest's best throw in the men's shot put landed at 53 feet, 4 1/4 inches. Hodgest earned his fourth career win in the indoor shot put event. Teammate Carlos Alexander leads the conference with a throw of 54 feet, 5 1/2 inches, and Hodgest is second with his best throw of the season, landing at 54 feet, 4 3/4 inches.
Sumpter led a group of three Aggies who finished in the top-5. Sumpter's throw traveled 45 feet, 2 1/4 inches, to win the event. Sumpter moves into the top-10 in the conference after her Saturday performance. Senior teammate Julieth Nwosu, ranked sixth in the conference, finished in fourth place (43 feet, 8 inches) on Saturday ahead of sophomore teammate Taylor Reagor.
Maykala Perry finished second on the track in the women's 400m at 56.53. Freshman Makenna Urbaneck placed fifth in the women's 60m at 7.75. She ran a PB of 7.74 in the preliminary on Friday.
Kelly and the rest of the Aggies will go over individual, relay, and team conference championships next as the Aggies will compete in the second-ever CAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Nike Track & Field Center at the Armory in New York on Feb. 22-23.
