Track & Field | 6/13/2026 1:39:00 AM

EUGENE, Ore. – There were no event national championships on Friday night for the North Carolina A&T men's outdoor track and field team, but the Aggies added even more first-team All-American accolades to their vast collection during the third day of the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by the University of Oregon at historic Hayward Field.

The Aggies competed in five events on Friday and earned first-team All-American honors from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in four of them, including both relay teams. They scored 21 points with one third-place finish, two fourth-place finishes, one sixth-place finish, and one seventh-place finish.

Junior Isaiah Taylor and senior Jason Holmes led A&T in front of a national audience on ESPN2 Friday. Both men earned first-team All-American recognition in two separate events. Taylor also made program history, and Holmes reinforced his status as the best 110-meter hurdler in program history with another record-breaking performance.

In the 400-meter hurdle NCAA national final, Isaiah Taylor finished third in 49.03. He placed third despite the University of Texas's Kody Blackwood tumbling and falling in the lane to his left. Blackwood's falling legs nearly extended into Taylor's lane as he sprinted toward the final 70 meters of the race.

Taylor avoided tripping over Blackwood and became the first A&T men's 400H runner in program history to earn first-team All-American honors. His twin brother, Xzaviah Taylor, also accomplished the feat after finishing seventh in 49.98. Before Isaiah Taylor, A&T's best finish in the 400H on the national stage came from Xzaviah Taylor in 2025 when he finished 11th nationally.

In the short hurdles, Holmes broke his personal record for the second time in three days at NCAA nationals, and his school record for the second time in three days, running 13.16 to finish fourth. Friday marked the fourth time in Holmes' career he has broken A&T's 110H record.

He also broke the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) record for the third time in his career. He will leave the university with six of the seven best times in the 110H. His fourth-place finish is the highest finish nationally in the 110H in program history, exceeding Rasheem Brown's eighth-place finish in 2023.

The Taylor Twins followed up their first-team All-American status in the 400H with first-team All-American accolades in the 4x400-meter relay. Isaiah and Xzaviah made up half of the 4x400, which also included sophomore Elijah Thomas and senior Dyimond Walker. The group finished in 3:00.68, placing sixth.

Their time breaks the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) record they set at this year's NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round (3:01.22). A&T's time on Friday is faster than the time the Aggies ran in 2021 (3:00.92) to win the national title in the 4x400. Isaiah Taylor ran a 44.11-second anchor leg to help the Aggies break the CAA record, earning first-team All-American recognition for all four student-athletes.

In A&T's other relay event, the Aggies placed fourth in the 4x100 with a time of 38.67 to secure first-team All-American accolades for junior Lassale Hewlett, senior Jason Holmes, senior Jalen Booth-Mitchell, and junior Nakhi Benjamin. It marked the seventh time in program history the Aggies have earned first-team All-American honors in the 4x100. It was A&T's best finish nationally in the event since the 2021 team finished fourth.

Junior Xavier Partee secured his second consecutive honorable mention All-American honor in the triple jump by placing 17th with a leap of 51 feet, 11 inches. Olivia Dowd will try to claim a first-team All-American nod in the women's triple jump on Saturday at Hayward Field at 8:10 p.m. EST. Before she competes, senior Spirit Morgan will try to improve upon her second-team All-American accomplishment from last season in the women's high jump. The women's high jump is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST.