Track & Field | 5/31/2025 8:07:00 PM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Carolina A&T men's and women's outdoor track and field programs wrapped up an excellent week at the 2025 NCAA Division I East Preliminaries at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium with the women qualifying two for the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships scheduled for June 11-14 at the University of Oregon's Historic Hayward Field.
Juniors Olivia Dowd and Spirit Morgan are heading to Eugene, Ore., after qualifying in the women's triple jump and high jump, respectively. Dowd became the first women's triple jumper in school history to make NCAA nationals. Morgan became the first female high jumper to qualify for nationals since Kenady Wilson did it in 2021.
The Aggies head to NCAA nationals with quite a contingent. On Friday, sophomores Xzaviah Taylor (400-meter hurdles, 4x400, 4x100), Isaiah Taylor (110H, 400H, 4x100), Xavier Partee (men's triple jump), and the remaining 4x100 and 4x400 relay team members also qualified for nationals.
Dowd's ascension to NCAA nationals is an impressive one. Dowd's best 2023 outdoor jump measured 38 feet, 9 ½ inches. Later in the season, she finished 11th at the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She did not participate during the 2024 outdoor season before her first competition of the 2025 season saw her finish 16th at N.C. State's Raleigh Relays with a jump of 38 feet, ¼ inches in late March.
By mid-April, Dowd had exceeded 40 feet on her triple jumps, jumping 42 feet, 4 inches to win A&T's Aggie Invitational. She won the CAA outdoor triple jump title at A&T's Marcus T. Johnson Track with a jump of 41 feet, 8 inches.
On Saturday, Dowd jumped a personal-record 43 feet, 4 ½ inches for the fifth-best qualifying time coming out of the NCAA East region.
Meanwhile, Morgan has been showing flashes of brilliance all season. She followed up her remarkable personal-record 6-foot jump at A&T's Aggie Invitational on April 18 by jumping a 6-foot, ¾ inch PR to win the CAA outdoor championship in the high jump.
Morgan jumped 5 feet, 11 ½ inches on Saturday to qualify for nationals with the sixth-best mark coming out of the East. The Aggies competed in two other events on Saturday. Nwosu, the first Aggie male or female to qualify for NCAA regionals in two different throwing events, competed in the women's discus, where her best toss landed at 158 feet, falling short of qualifying for nationals.
Seniors Pebbles Scott, Lucheyona Weaver, and sophomores Hayleigh Bryant and Makenna Urbanek posted a season-best 44.26, besting their 44.43 4x100-meter relay championship time at the CAA outdoor championships. But the foursome had the 15th-best time, falling outside the top 12 needed to qualify.
The Aggies look to close out the 2025 year with a few event national championships. Already in 2025, the men's indoor team won the conference championship before the men's outdoor team won CAAs in May.
