This past Saturday, N.C. A&T’s track and field teams hosted the Aggie Invitational.
The Aggies were sensational and dominated the competition. Their opponents were St. Augustine, N.C. Central, Virginia Union, Winston-Salem St., Concord, Virginia Wesleyan, Claflin, Barton, Prince George’s CC, Lynchburg, Christopher Newport, Virginia Union, Guilford College, and Campbell University. There was not one school with enough to upset the Aggies’ Men’s and Women’s track teams
“I have to give it to my guys they came in prepared for war, and they put the work in,” said Head Coach Duane Ross. “We need to continue to work on consistency, and maintain our discipline during our individual events. Overall, I think we are headed in the direction we need to leading up to Conference.”
All of the training leading up the to invitational definitely paid off for the Aggies, as they took five first place finishes. The Aggies seemed to dominate in all aspects of track and field.
Keenan Smith, junior, placed first in the long jump with a jump of 22-feet, 8 inches. Smith was not done yet, although he did not finish first in the triple jump, he was the runner up with a final result of 48 feet.
The Aggies did not hold anything back finishing in all three positions in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. Saeed Jones, junior, finished first with a time of 9:47.69. Franky Millis, a known cross country standou,t finished in second with a 10:13.66 time. Perry Cabean had a personal best with 10:25.04. While freshman standout Darren White ran his first 1,500-meter of the year, had a personal best with 4:08.21.
The nationally recognized 4×100 meter relay team Desmond Lawrence, Darryl Williams, Caleb Gabriel and Marquis Noble, placed first with a time of 39.86 sceonds. “It was a great day for the team. We came out to win, compete, and dominate,” said Darryl Williams, capitan of the team, who looked to do whatever it took to help the team.
The Lady Aggies were a huge catalyst to dominating the competition. The Lady Aggies excelled in throwing, jumping, and running. In the field events, Demetria Dickens, sophomore, threw the discus 142-feet, 5-inches. Dickens had a particular mindset going into the invitational, “The motivation for today came from me practicing every day in this ring, having pride for my school and having the will to dominate at home.”
At 3:49.08 the women 4×400-meter relay team placed first, which consists of seniors Jessica Farr, Roshel Bygrave, and freshmen Daniqua Dye and Imani Harris-Quillen.
The All-Freshmen, now sophomore, Nakita Gray maintained a high level of intensity when it came to the high jump. Although Gray had a jump of 5feet 8 inches, she still looked to improve. “I need to work on my arch of going over the bar, including finishing it all the way through. Overall, my preparation seemed to be correct. I just need to work on executing when I need to.”
A&T will pick up where they left off on April 18, 2014, as they travel to Charlotte for the Charlotte Invitational. Following that week, the Aggies will compete in Penn-Relays.
- Dominique moody Contributor