RALEIGH, N.C. – In only the 2025 season's second meet, senior North Carolina A&T men's outdoor track and field thrower Brayden Hodgest has already reset North Carolina A&T's outdoor program record for the men's shot put event.
Competing in the 2025 Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State University (NCSU) at Paul H. Derr Track on Thursday, Hodgest launched a personal-record (PR) throw of 58 feet, 5 ¾ inches to take the record from senior teammate Carlos Alexander.
Hodgest already claims A&T's top five indoor shot put program records, so his new feat should be no surprise. The university's previous outdoor record was 58 feet, ¼ inch, set by Alexander at the 2023 University of Florida Tom Jones Memorial.
Hodgest finished second in Thursday's competition, less than six inches behind Duke University's Phillips Moore (58 feet, 11 ¼ inches). Alexander placed 11th in 53 feet, 6 ¼ inches.
On the women's side, graduate student Julieth Nwosu also found a PR and a second-place finish in the shot put event. Nwosu threw an outdoor best of 53 feet, 10 ½ inches, overturning her previous PR of 52 feet, 1 ¼ inches from the 2023 CAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Junior Taylor Reagor added more than two feet to her outdoor PR, placing 27th with a throw of 42 feet, 8 ¼ inches.
Senior Kylan Willis and sophomore Jordan were the only other performers. Willis raced in the men's 1500m, with more than 200 runners, and finished eighth in the second section in 3:56.69. Sophomore Jordan Davis finished 12th in Flight 1 of the women's javelin throw, measuring out at 93 feet, 10 inches.
