North Carolina A&T

Individual Champions Under Ross

Duane Ross joined North Carolina A&T as the director of the track and field programs on July 11, 2012. Ross is responsible for six programs at N.C. A&T – men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor track and field and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field. All six programs have made tremendous strides under Ross’ leadership.

He is considered one of the best track and field coaches in the nation. He has earned three United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Southeast Region men’s coach of the year twice and Southeast Region women’s coach of the year once. He has also seen athletes earn their way on to U.S. national teams including Christopher Belcher, Michael Dickson, Rodney Rowe and Trevor Stewart.

A relay team and an individual has also won indoor national titles under Ross. In 2021, the men’s 4x400-meter relay which featured his son Randolph Ross Jr., along with Trevor Stewart, Elijah Young and Daniel Stokes claimed the national crown with the eighth-fastest collegiate time ever, 3:03.16. The Aggie men finished fifth at the 2021 NCAA indoors as Ross Jr. finished second in the men’s 400m.

Two years earlier, Kyle White won the NCAA indoor national championship in the 200m in Birmingham, Ala. White scored 18 points at the 2019 nationals as she also finished second nationally in the 60-meter hurdles. Her 18 points helped the Aggies finished seventh nationally. White was named NCAA Division I Indoor Female Track Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Aggie to win national player of the year.

The Aggies dominated MEAC track and field during Ross’s tenure. He has won 16 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles with four in men’s indoor track and field, four in women’s indoor track and field, four in men’s outdoor track and field, three in women’s track and field and one in men’s cross country.

In fact, the Aggies won four straight (2017-2020) MEAC women’s and men’s indoor titles making N.C. A&T the first MEAC school to win four straight men’s and women’s indoor titles simultaneously.

Before the 2019-20 indoor season was interrupted at the NCAA Track and Field Indoor National Championships, the Aggies had 10 athletes qualify for nationals including Ross Jr., who had the No. 1 400m time in the world. During the 2019 outdoor season, Ross had two athletes reach the medal stand as Trevor Stewart finished second nationally in the 400m, Kayla White finished second in the 100m and freshman Cambrea Sturgis finished third in the 200m.

Both the men and women finished 15^th nationally at the 2019 NCAA outdoor championships in Austin, Texas.

In 2018, Ross solidified his track and field program’s dominance over the MEAC by winning the 2018 men’s cross country title. It was the Aggies first men’s cross country title in 36 years. In fact, his men’s programs won seven MEAC men’s track and field titles in a row before having the streak snapped at the 2019 men’s cross country championships.

Ross has amazingly won all four track and field indoor and outdoor titles in the same year twice (2017, 2019). At the 2017 NCAA Track and Field Championships at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., the Aggie men finished 14th nationally to secure the highest finish by historically black university since N.C. Central finished fourth in 1974. They were third among schools not in the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC and Pac 12.

Twenty different athletes have qualified for the NCAA indoor championships under Ross, while 14 have qualified for the NCAA outdoor championships. Multiple athletes have accomplished All-American honors in qualifying for NCAA championships. At least one Aggie has earned either first-team or second-team All-American indoor honors for eight straight seasons starting in 2014.

In 2017, Christopher Belcher and Rodney Rowe became the first two Aggies to earn first-team All-American honors in three different events. Belcher won bronze at the 2017 NCAA outdoor championships in the 100m and 4x100 relay.

 Belcher finished third in the U.S. 100m final to earn a prestigious spot on the United States Track and Field team and signed professionally with Nike the same year.

A combined 34 different athletes have earned first-team All-American honors in either indoor or outdoor. Thirteen athletes have earned multiple first-team honors. Fifteen different athletes have earned second-team All-American honors with five of those athletes earning multiple second-team honors.

Ross led a combined 19 athletes to the 2017 NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round to set a new school record. The Aggies shattered that record the next season with 24 invites. N.C. A&T's track and field All-American total have grown to a combined 43 different student-athletes during his tenure.

N.C. A&T has been dominant in the MEAC under Ross. Forty-seven different individuals have won MEAC indoor titles. The Aggies have won the men’s 4x400 relay (2016-19) four straight seasons and the women’s 4x400 four straight seasons (2017-20). Thirty-six individuals have won MEAC outdoor titles.

In 2018, White became the first Aggie to win four different events at the MEAC outdoor championships when she won the 100 meters, the 100-meter hurdles, the 200 and the 4x100 relay. She was named the Most Outstanding Track Athlete.

N.C. A&T has also broken eight MEAC meet records (indoor and outdoor combined) since Ross became the director of track and field program. The Aggies also gained their first-ever national ranking with Ross at the helm. The Aggies men’s team became the first MEAC track program to reach the USTFCCCA Top-25 when they earned the No. 21 ranking on May 8, 2016. Since that point, the men have been ranked as high as No. 4 and the women at No. 6.

In 2015, Michael Dickson (60-meter hurdles) and Maurice Eaddy qualified for NCAA indoor nationals to mark the first time in school history the Aggies qualified two male athletes for indoor nationals. Dickson was the first-ever 60mh runner from N.C. A&T to qualify. In 2015-16, Desmond Lawrence became the first Aggie athlete to earn All-American honors as an indoor and outdoor athlete when he advanced to the NCAA finals in the 60 meters.

Cross country has also seen improvements under Ross’ leadership. In 2012, the men finished fourth, in 2013 they finished third and in 2014 and ’15 they finished second.

Ross came to A&T after serving five years as the track and field director at Methodist University, a Division III program, in Fayetteville, N.C. During his time at Methodist, the Monarchs won nine individual NCAA Championships and earned 46 All-American honors. On 62 occasions, a Monarch achieved an NCAA qualifying mark and Methodist won 84 individual Mason Dixon Conference Championships under Ross' direction. A Methodist athlete won the Mason Dixon Conference Athletes of the Year four years in a row under Ross. Ross had two Cross Country Mason Dixon Athletes of the Year.

The Monarch women captured both the indoor and outdoor Mason Dixon Conference Championship titles in 2011 and the outdoor title in 2012. Their conference championship was the first in the program's history. In 2011 the Monarchs finished fourth at the NCAA indoor championships before going on to finish third at the 2011 NCAA outdoor championships. In 2012 the Monarchs finished fourth at the 2012 NCAA indoor championships and fourth again at the NCAA outdoor championships.

Ross’ athletes took the USTFCCCA South/Southeast Region Track Athlete of the Year and the USTFCCCA South/Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year awards in 2011. Ross garnered numerous Coach of the Year awards during his time at Methodist: Two consecutive USTFCCCA South/Southeast Region Coach of the Year honors in 2011 and 2012, Mason Dixon Indoor Coach of the Year in 2011 and Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2012, and Methodist University Coach of the Year in 2011.

Ross began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach at Clemson University, his alma mater, in 1996.
Ross joined Methodist University after retiring from his professional career as an Olympic athlete and world-class sprinter. Ross competed on the U.S. Olympic Team in 2004 and earned a silver medal in the 2004 Olympic Trials in the men's 110-meter hurdles. He finished ninth in the 110mh at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. He is a four-time member of the U.S. World Championship team, where he earned two U.S. Championships and two silvers medals in the 60 and 110mh. He also earned the bronze medal in that event in the 1999 World Championships. He was consistently ranked in the top 10 in the world in his event throughout his professional career.

He made his debut in world track and field events at the 1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships, where he finished fourth in the 60mh event. He also finished fourth in the 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the 1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final. Ross was the 1998 USA Indoor 60mh champion. His highest ranking was fifth in the world in 2003.

Ross won the NCAA Championship in the 110mh in 1995 at Clemson. As a Tiger, he became a seven-time All-American and five-time ACC Champion in addition to his national title. He received his bachelor's degree in financial management in 1996 from Clemson. He completed his master's degree in sports management and physical education from Aspen University in 2016.

Ross is from Dallas, N.C., and attended North Gaston High School. He was a football standout in high school and joined the track and field team to rehabilitate an ankle injury before the next football season. He found immense success in the hurdles and won the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state title in the 110mh in his first season.

Ross holds a USA Track and Field Level 1 coaching certification and is also a certified USA Track and Field official. He's the former Vice President for USA Track and Field for the state of North Carolina.