Track & Field | 2/23/2024 4:32:00 PM
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The North Carolina A&T men's indoor track and field team came seven points shy of capturing another conference championship and its first as a Coastal Athletic Association member. Instead, the Northeastern Huskies outlasted the Aggies on Friday at the Armory Track to win their second straight title as they claimed six event titles to A&T's four at the 2024 CAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The Huskies accumulated 153 points in the team race. A&T made a run at the title on the second day but fell short, scoring 146 points in second place. The Aggies had nine all-conference performance efforts on Friday. Monmouth rounded out the top three with 119 points ahead of Campbell by half a point in fourth.
The Lady Aggies finished in sixth place with 62 points. Northeastern won with 119.5 points, ahead of the Elon Phoenix with 95 points. Campbell placed third with 90 points, followed by Towson with 70 points and Hampton with 66.5.
The women took home two gold medals and had eight all-conference nods. Both A&T teams also had some repeat champions. On the women's side, junior hurdler Lucheyona Weaver repeated as the CAA champion in the 60-meter hurdles. After setting the meet record in the preliminaries, Weaver won the title by running an 8.21. Graduate transfer and teammate Shadajah Ballard finished fourth in 8.45. claim the title for the second straight season. Weaver scored three more points for the Aggies by finishing sixth in the 60-meter final in 7.56.
The other repeat champion for A&T was Brayden Hodgest in the men's shot put. Hodgest won his second straight title by having his best throw land at 55 feet, 6 ½ inches. Hodgest finished ahead of Monmouth's AJ Bailor, who tossed the shot put 54 feet, 8 ¼ inches. Hodgest's junior teammate Carlos Alexander placed third with a throw of 53 feet, 7 ¾ inches.
Sophomore Jason Holmes looks to start a streak of his own in the men's 60H. of 16.67m (54-08.25). After finishing third last season in the 60H, Holmes claimed the 2024 title by running the fifth-fastest time in the nation at 7.65. He put himself in a position to compete for a national championship by doing so. A&T, the nation's No. 1 men's hurdles foursome, continued its dominance in the event. Junior Aveon Reid placed second with a personal record of 7.71, and freshman Isaiah Taylor placed third with a 7.97. Taylor's brother, Xzaviah Taylor, placed sixth in the final at 8.15.
Both A&T 4x400-meter relay teams captured CAA indoor titles on Friday. The women's team of Fajr Kelly, Pebbles Scott, Mykala Perry and Serenity Brazell ran a meet-record 3:41.58 to win the title. They finished ahead of UNC Wilmington by a little less than two seconds. The Aggies continued their dominance on the men's side, winning their sixth 4x400 conference title in seven conference indoor championships.
The 2024 version of the Aggies featured Shemar Chambers, Xzaviah Taylor, Reid and Isaiah Taylor. They finished in 3:10.07. Campbell finished behind the Aggies in 3:10.32. The Aggies received an additional men's title on Thursday, with Aeneas Reed, Jr. winning the long jump. Earlier on Saturday, Chambers placed second in the men's 400m with a time of 46.92. It marked the second straight season he finished second in the 400m.
Kendrell Goodes also scored big for A&T by finishing second in the men's high jump at 6 feet, 8 inches. Joseph Palmer and Xavier Partee finished 2,3 in the men's triple jump, with Palmer jumping 49 feet, 4 inches, and Partee leaping 47 feet, 10 inches. The Aggies also got a medal in the men's 4x800 with the team of Eddie Hall, Kamren Kennedy, Jalen Chin and Kaleb Conway running a 7:40.92 to finish third.
On the women's side, Kelly claimed silver in the 800m by finishing with a PR of 2:05.96. Kelly finished just off the pace of Hampton's Jordan Mozie's 2:05.48. Senior My'Khiy Williams made it to the awards stand by finishing third by jumping 5 feet, 8 inches in the women's high jump. Julieth Nwosu also made the stand by throwing the shot put 47 feet, 5 inches to finish third.
