BATON ROUGE, La. – North Carolina A&T's men's 4x100-meter relay team sprinted toward qualifying for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round, and
Spirit Morgan made a triumphant return on Saturday during the LSU Alumni Gold meet at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
Additionally, senior
Jason Holmes followed up his outstanding 110-meter hurdles performance at A&T's Aggie Invitational last week with an even stronger showing at LSU on Saturday. Similarly, senior
Olivia Dowd built on her impressive women's long jump result at A&T by delivering an improved performance on Saturday. In total, the Aggies took home three first-place finishes, 10 top-three finishes, and 16 top-five finishes.
The 4x100 men's team of junior
Lassale Hewlett, Holmes, sophomore Corrrey McManus Jr., and senior
Jalen Booth-Mitchell won the event at LSU with some authority. A&T's 4x100 team won the event in 39.30, outrunning the next closest competitor, Northwestern State, which posted a 39.64. The foursome posted the 30th-fastest time in the nation on Saturday. They are No. 1 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) and No. 16 in the NCAA East Region.
A&T's other men's relay team, the 4x400, finished second on Saturday. Sophomore
Elijah Thomas, junior
Dyimond Walker, junior Xzaviah Walker, and junior Isaiah Walker finished in 3:05.12. They finished behind Northwestern State's time of 3:04.93. The Aggies' 4x400 team still holds the best time in the CAA, 3:03.47, recorded at the University of Florida's Pepsi Relays. It is the ninth-best time in the region.
All-American
Spirit Morgan made her first appearance in three weeks. She had not missed a step. Morgan jumped 6 feet, ½ inch to win the women's high jump at LSU. She narrowly missed breaking her own program record. That record still stands at 6 feet, ¾ inches, set at the 2025 CAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Morgan's jump on Saturday ranks her third in the East Region and No.1 in the CAA. It is the 10th-best jump nationally.
Holmes, another A&T All-American, continues to climb up the rankings in the 110H. Last week, Holmes ran 13.46 at the Aggie Invitational. Holmes finished second on Saturday with a time of 13.43. He finished just fractions of a second behind LSU's Matthew Sophia, who ran 13.42. Holmes' time on Saturday is tied for the second-fastest in program history after Holmes' 13.43 at Penn Relays in 2024.
After the weekend, Holmes remains No. 1 in the CAA and has moved into fifth place in the East Region, tying for the 10th-fastest time in the nation.
Isaiah Taylor finished third behind Holmes with a time of 13.51. Just a week after her last outing, Dowd improved her ranking in the women's long jump.
Last week at A&T's Marcus T. Johnson Track Complex, Dowd jumped a personal record of 20 feet, ¼ inch. That is no longer her best. On Saturday, Dowd jumped a career-best 20 feet, 6 ½ inches to place second. She remains No. 1 in the CAA. She moved to 19th-best in the East Region and ranks 45th nationally. Dowd also competed in the women's triple jump on Saturday and won the event with a jump of 40 feet, 11 inches. Her 42-foot, 9-inch triple jump at Pepsi Relays remains No. 1 in the CAA and 17th in the region.
In the other men's hurdles event, the Taylor twins excelled again. Xzaviah finished second in 49.58, ranking first in the CAA, fifth in the East Region, and seventh nationally. His brother Isaiah took fifth with a time of 52.22. Booth-Mitchell, after excelling in the 4x100, also performed well in the 100 and 200m.
Booth-Mitchell finished fifth in the 200m, crossing the finish line at 20.58. It is the best time in the CAA, moving him to 18th in the East Region. He has the 39th-best time nationally. In the 100m, Booth-Mitchell placed fourth in 10.28. It is the second-fastest time in the CAA. He is in a four-way tie for 47th in the region. Walker also stepped away from his relay team for success. He finished second in the men's 800m with a time of 1:50.36.
The Aggies return to the Marcus T. Johnson Track Complex to host the Aggie Classic, May 1-2.
