Track & Field | 6/11/2025 11:51:00 PM
EUGENE, Ore. – The season on the track for North Carolina A&T track and field is over after Friday's action at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Wednesday night at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field.
A&T participated in four events on the track Wednesday, with a nagging injury to sophomore sprinter/hurdler Isaiah Taylor impacting all those events. A&T first felt that impact during the 4x100-meter relay, in which the Aggies coaching staff decided not to start him in that event save him for the two hurdle events – the 110H and the 400H.
Two weeks ago, at the 2025 NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round, Isaiah joined his teammates to run 39.09 to qualify for the national semifinal race in Eugene, Ore. On Wednesday, the Aggies assembled a 4x100 team, including freshman Correy McManus, Jr., senior Jaeden Gumbs, sophomore Xzaviah Taylor, and graduate Brandon Nya. The foursome ran 40.43 to finish seventh in the first heat. Those four gentlemen will earn honorable mention All-American honors in the event.
Isaiah ran in the first heat of the 110H, where he had to endure two false starts around him before the event started. Once the competition got underway, Isaiah looked slowed by the injury, finishing at 14.30. He will garner honorable mention All-American honors in the 110.
The closest the Aggies came to qualifying for a final came in the 400H, where Xzaviah Taylor looked poised to finish the top two of the first heat, which would have made him an automatic qualifier into Friday's final. Xzaviah leaped over the next-to-last hurdle in second place. But the USC's Johnny Brackins started to close in on him over his right shoulder, and Rutgers' Bryce Tucker started to gain ground from the outside lane.
Baylor's Nathaniel Ezekiel won the heat in 47.86. Brackins and Tucker moved ahead of Xzaviah, finishing in 50.14, with Brackins getting the automatic qualifier in a fraction of a second. Xzaviah, the top qualifier from the East Prelims, finished fourth in his heat in 50.27.
Xzaviah finished 11th overall, outside of the top nine qualifiers. His twin brother Isaiah ran in the second heat, finishing 55.63 after he continued to be hobbled by his injury. Xzaviah will earn second-team All-American honors in the 400H, and Isaiah will earn honorable All-American accolades.
Day 1 of the NCAA nationals concluded with the 4x400 relay. Freshman Elijah Thomas, Xzaviah, sophomore Caleb Gurnell, and junior Dyimond Walker finished fifth in the first heat by running a 3:05.77. The Aggies finished 18th overall. The foursome will earn second-team All-American honors in the 4x400.
A&T still has three field events remaining at NCAA nationals. Sophomore Xavier Partee competes on Friday at 8:10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the men's triple jump. Two Lady Aggies compete on Saturday, with junior Spirit Morgan set to start the high jump at 8:30 p.m. EST. Junior Olivia Dowd, the first female Aggie to qualify for the triple jump, will compete at 9:10 p.m. EST.
