Athletics | 8/5/2025 7:41:00 AM
GREENSBORO – Twelve Aggies were nominated by HBCU Sports Awards by HBCU Sports, with three Aggies winning and two other former A&T coaches receiving Lifetime Achievement Awards.
The Awards featured 46 categories honoring individual, team, and administrative achievements across the entire HBCU athletics landscape.
A&T women's track and field star Spirit Morgan captured Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Her head coach, Allen Johnson, won Track and Field Coach of the Year. Meanwhile, Aggies bowler Maya Avilez captured Bowler of the Year.
Patricia Cage Bibbs, who coached the A&T women's basketball program from 2005-12, earned the Lifetime Achievement Award on the women's side, while Rod Broadway, who coached the Aggies football program from 2011-2017, won the men's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Morgan captured second-team All-American honors from the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) in the women's high jump during the outdoor track and field season. She also won the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) women's high jump titles during the indoor and outdoor championships. She won the CAA's women's high jump outdoor title by jumping a personal-best 6 feet, ¾ inches.
Johnson led the men's and women's track and field indoor and outdoor teams to historic seasons in 2025. The A&T men's indoor team became the first-ever A&T varsity program to win a CAA championship when they captured the men's CAA indoor track and field title on February 27. The Aggie men followed that up by winning the CAA outdoor title on May 15 at Marcus T. Johnson Track.
In addition, the Aggies had 13 men and 11 women qualify for the NCAA Division I Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla., May 28-31. Taylor Reagor and Julieth Nwosu's qualification for the NCAA East Prelims marked the first time two Aggie throwers had qualified for regionals. Nwosu qualifying in the discus and shot put marked the first time an Aggie has qualified for two throwing events at regionals.
As a result of regionals, the men's 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams qualified for the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., along with individuals Xzaviah Taylor (men's 400-meter hurdles), twin brother Isaiah Taylor (400H, 100H), Xavier Partee (men's triple jump), Spirit Morgan (women's high jump), and Olivia Dowd (women's triple jump).
Taylor and Morgan went on to earn second-team All-American accolades.
Avilez won MEAC Bowler of the Year, making it the fifth straight year an Aggie has won the award. Avilez also carried the Aggies to the MEAC tournament title by earning Most Outstanding Bowler. Before the season, MEAC head coaches and sports information directors voted her MEAC Preseason Bowler of the Year.
Avilez won conference bowler of the week three times and secured third-team National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) All-America accolades. Avilez ranked 21st nationally in PCPI. She ranked in the top 15 nationally in 10 statistical categories. She ranked fourth nationally in makable spare percentage (88.6).
She qualified for the Intercollegiate Singles Championships (ISC) after winning the Allen Park Sectional in March with a total pinfall of 1,399 over six games. She also helped the Aggies qualify for the Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).
In her seven seasons in Aggieland, Bibbs compiled 130 wins, a .596 winning percentage, won three MEAC regular-season titles, one conference tournament title, and reached the WNIT twice and the NCAA tournament once. During the 2009-10 season, the Aggies became the first women's HBCU program to advance twice in an NCAA-sanctioned Division I postseason tournament. They reached the Super 16 by defeating Wake Forest and Charlotte.
The 2008-09 Aggies won the MEAC tournament title and earned a No. 14 seed in the NCAA tournament. It was the highest seed ever given to an HBCU at the time. The 2008-09 team also shattered the school record for single-season wins by going 26-7. The record still stands today. She also secured her 500th career coaching victory during her time at A&T.
Bibbs coached two North Carolina A&T Sports Hall of Famers, Amber Bland and Brittanie Taylor-James. In addition, her associate head coach from 2005-09, Tarrell Robinson, took over for Bibbs before the 2012-13 season and eventually became the program's all-time winningest coach.
Bibbs served as head coach at her alma mater for the next 13 years, leading the program to 244 wins, six SWAC postseason titles, and eight regular-season titles with a 138-44 record against SWAC opponents. Bibbs coached at Hampton University from 1997-04. She went 127-83 overall and 95-31 in MEAC play at Hampton, winning four regular-season championships and three MEAC tournament titles. She won MEAC coach of the year following the 1997-98 season.
Broadway retired in 2017 after leading the Aggies to a 12-0 record, which included a MEAC title, a Celebration Bowl win, and a black college football national championship. He spent seven seasons in Aggieland, leading the Aggies to three MEAC titles, three Celebration Bowl wins, three black college national championships, and one NCAA Division I-FCS playoff appearance.
In 15 seasons as a head coach, Broadway amassed a 127-45 (.738) record with four HBCU titles and six conference championships. His .737 winning percentage was the best winning percentage among active FCS coaches when he retired. At the time of retirement, Broadway had the third-highest winning percentage. Broadway spent four seasons apiece at North Carolina Central (2003-06) and Grambling State (2007-10).
2025 HBCU Sports Awards Nominees from North Carolina A&T and their respective categories…
Bowler of the Year
- Maya Avilez, North Carolina A&T
- Jayda Gordon, Prairie View A&M
- Jenna Knight, Alabama State
- Ericka Reed, Fayetteville State
- Paige Rockwell, Fayetteville State
- Kiersten Michel, Norfolk State
Women's Basketball Player of the Year
- Joy Campbell, Xavier U. (La.)
- Taleah Dilworth, Jackson State
- Jordyn Dorsey, North Carolina A&T
- Diamond Johnson, Norfolk State
- Mikayla Woods, Langston
- Nya Morris, Claflin
- Taliah Wesley, Allen
Men's Tennis Player of the Year
- Mikael Carpenter, Morgan State
- David Jeanne-Grandinot, Alabama State
- Jackson McIlwain, Morehouse
- Lucas Coupo-Moison, North Carolina A&T
- Nereo Suarez, Xavier U. (La.)
Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Year
- Savoria Anderson, Prairie View A&M
- Jada David, Benedict
- Andreana Graham, Florida Memorial
- Tia Jackson, Morgan State
- Yassine Kamara, Bowie State
- Spirit Morgan, North Carolina A&T
- Julieth Nwosu, North Carolina A&T
- Domanique Knowles, Fayetteville State
Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year
- Joseph Briscoe, Virginia State
- Jayden Burris, Voorhees
- Xavier Partee, North Carolina A&T
- Roman Smith, Southern
- Wesley Tyndall, Lincoln (Mo.)
- Zach Washington, Benedict
- Christopher Watson, Dillard
- Andrew Betton, Coppin State
Men's Track & Field Sprinter of the Year
- Jarrett Gentles, Coppin State
- Sharim Hamilton, Lincoln (Mo.)
- Kibren Moore, Albany State
- Jordan Pierre, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
- Jamarion Stubbs, Alabama State
- Isaiah Taylor, North Carolina A&T
- Tyson Williams, Johnson C. Smith
Bowling Coach of the Year
- Andrew Chatmon, Alabama State
- Tiffany Clark, Prairie View A&M
- Barry Doyle, Southern
- Robert Henderson, Fayetteville State
- Kim Terrell-Kearney, North Carolina A&T
Track & Field Coach of the Year
- Garfield Ellenwood, Florida A&M
- Kenneth Giles, Norfolk State
- Allen Johnson, North Carolina A&T
- David Oliver, Howard
- Yhann Plummer, Xavier U. (La.)
- Kenneth Taylor, Albany State
- Victor Thomas, Lincoln (Mo.)
- Antonio Wells, Winston-Salem State
Women's Volleyball Coach of the Year
- David Brooks, Delaware State
- Angela Franke, Dillard
- Verniece Graham, Albany State
- Avery Moore, West Virginia State
- Jonathan Paulk, Shaw
- Amanda Walker, Virginia State
- LaShaunda Spurgeon, Talladega
- Gokhan Yilmaz, Florida A&M
Lifetime Achievement Award: Female
- Patricia Cage-Bibbs (Grambling, Hampton, North Carolina A&T)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Male
- Rod Broadway (North Carolina Central, Grambling, North Carolina A&T)
