Track & Field | 6/10/2025 3:53:00 PM
EUGENE, Ore. – The North Carolina A&T outdoor track and field programs are back in the national spotlight as the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships approach on Wednesday, June 11, at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field.
The Aggies have had their moments of national success in the past, including the late 2000s when sprinters Alexandria Spruill, Calesio Newman and hurdler Loreal Smith ruled the track at A&T. The late 2010s saw the program take a step forward with outdoor event national champions like Cambrea Sturgis (100 meters, 200m), Randolph Ross, Jr. (400m, 4x400), and event national championship relay teams like the men's 4x400.
Well, now it is the mid-2020s, and the country's premiere HBCU track and field program is knocking on the door again for event national championships. The Aggies even have the numbers on the men's side to make a run for a team national championship if everything falls into place.
The even better news for A&T director of track field Allen Johnson is that the group in Eugene in 2025 is a youthful group with more help on the way.
The first day of the NCAA outdoor track and field championships is on Wednesday when the men start competing at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time with the start of the combined events. The Taylor twins, sophomores Xzaviah and Isaiah Taylor, will be featured prominently on Wednesday.
Outdoor nationals begin for the Aggies in the men's 4x100-meter relay team at 7:05 p.m. EST. At the 2025 NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round two weeks ago in Jacksonville, Fla., the 4x100 team featured the Taylor twins, and seniors Brandon Nya and Jaeden Gumbs ran a 39.09 to qualify for outdoor nationals. Isaiah will retake the track in the 110-meter hurdles three hours later. Isaiah ran the fifth-fastest time at the East Prelims, finishing with a personal record time of 13.46.
Auburn's Ja'Kobe Tharp had the fastest time out of the East at 13.14, while the University of Texas's Kendrick Smallwood had the fastest time in the West at 13.13. The 110H will not be all for Isaiah. He will also compete in the 400H at 9:14 p.m. EST time with his brother Xzaviah. Depending on what Johnson decides, Isaiah could also make an appearance in the 4x400 relay at 10:36 p.m. EST.
"It means so much to me (to make nationals) considering the fact that last year I only made nationals in the 4x1 compared to this year, making it in all the events I competed in (at regionals)," said Isaiah Taylor. "It is a great feeling just to go out and compete and show people what I'm really capable of. It gives me multiple chances to get into the NCAA final for four events.
I'm excited and ready to compete."
Xzaviah Taylor will come into the 400H with the top qualifying time coming out of the East. He ran a program-record 49.18 at East Prelims while three hurdlers ran under 49 seconds in the West, led by Texas's Kody Blackwood's 48.83. The 4x400 team that ran 3:03.88 to qualify for nationals included Xzaviah, freshman Elijah Thomas, junior Dyimond Walker, and sophomore Caleb Gurnell.
The party does not start for sophomore Xavier Partee until Friday when he competes for an event national championship in the men's triple jump at 8:10 p.m. EST. Partee jumped a personal record 52 feet, 4 ¾ inches, to make his way to Eugene. Partee is the first A&T men's triple jumper since 2017 to qualify for NCAA nationals.
"Regionals were tremendous for the Aggie men," said Johnson. "Everyone that competed punched their ticket to Oregon. Xavier set the tone by starting off with a PR in the triple jump. From there, Isaiah had two personal bests, and Xzaviah improved his best time by more than a second in the 400 hurdles.
We came to Jacksonville with a mission, and we accomplished it."
While Partee is the first men's triple jumper in eight years to qualify for nationals, junior Olivia Dowd is the first A&T women's triple jumper in program history to make an NCAA nationals meet. Dowd jumped a 43-foot, 4 ½ inch PR at East Prelims to make history. She will compete at 9:10 p.m. EST. Meanwhile, junior high jumper Spirit Morgan will also compete on Saturday.
Morgan's best jump this season came on May 14 when she jumped 6 feet, ¾ inches to win the Coastal Athletic Association outdoor championship. That puts her in contention to win an event national championship. The national high jump final is at 8:30 p.m. EST.
"Under the tutelage of (jumps coach Aniis Hopkins), they both persevered through the ups and downs of the year to punch their ticket to the final round of the NCAA championships."
