Track & Field | 5/15/2025 7:34:00 PM
GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T women's outdoor track and field team sent a message Thursday during the second day of the 2025 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by A&T at Marcus T. Johnson Track.
We are not far behind our male counterparts. While the Aggie men won the outdoor title, the Aggie women placed third. In doing so, the ladies outperformed the pre-conference projections of where they would finish. That means they could only be a few pieces away from constructing what the A&T men have – a conference championship program.
The other good news is that a senior is setting the example of what could be. Senior Lucheyona Weaver played a significant role in the Aggies finishing in the top three. It was a Piedmont Triad sweep on Thursday. The Elon Phoenix joined the Aggie men as champions.
Elon won the women's outdoor CAA title with 147 points. The A&T women scored 102 points, 20 points behind fellow HBCU and second-place Hampton, who scored 122 points.
"The women were tremendous. We had a lot of people step up," said A&T's director of track and field Allen Johnson. "Lucheyona did her thing. She always wins the hurdles, but yesterday and today she stepped up in the 100 meters and ran really well in the 4x1. We came out here, honestly, trying to win the men and the women. That will always be the expectation."
The women won titles in the high jump, 100-meter hurdles, 4x100-meter relay, triple jump, and the shot put. Weaver started by helping the 4x100 team break the CAA and CAA outdoor meet record. Senior Pebbles Scott, Weaver, and sophomores Hayleigh Bryant and Makenna Urbanek shattered both CAA records by running a 44.33 to win the event. Weaver then turned her attention to the 100H.
After running a 13.80 during the 100H qualifying round on Wednesday in the pouring rain, it appeared that Weaver may have trouble defending her CAA outdoor title in the 100H from last season. It was no trouble at all. Weaver won with a time of 13.26, besting second-place Yasmeen Tinsley of Monmouth, who finished in 13.49. Senior Zamia Stelley also scored for A&T, finishing third in 13.96.
Weaver completed her day by finishing fourth in the 100m, sprinting a personal-record 11.60 to best her PR on Wednesday at 11.66. Urbanek placed third in 11.59 to give the Aggies 11 points in the event.
Most of the damage done by the A&T women came in the field events. Junior Olivia Dowd showed off her vast improvement by winning the triple jump with a measurement of 41 feet, 8 inches. Two years ago, Dowd finished 11th in the triple jump at the CAA outdoor championships.
Graduate Julieth Nwosu is now a two-time CAA outdoor champion in the shot put. Nwosu tossed the shot put 51 feet, 4 ¼ inches to win. Nwosu also has an outdoor title from the Big South Conference in the discus. Nwosu's 53-foot, 10 1/2-inch throw on March 27 has her ranked 21st in the NCAA East Region in the shot put.
Speaking of rankings, junior Spirit Morgan is the nation's No. 1 HBCU high jumper after Thursday. Morgan won the high jump title with a 6-foot, 3/4-inch PR. It ranks her at No. 2 in the NCAA East and eighth nationally.
Another good sign for the A&T women's outdoor track and field building project is that the Aggies will send several athletes to regionals, scheduled for May 28-31 in Jacksonville, Fla. If they can also advance athletes to the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, June 11-14, in Eugune, Ore., than yes, they are not far behind at all.
