A&T Transitions to Outdoor Season With Many Successes at HPU

Isaiah Taylor helped the Aggies 4x100-meter relay team win at HPU on Saturday. He also won the 100 meters.

Track & Field | 3/22/2025 10:51:00 PM

HIGH POINT, N.C. - Kicking off the outdoor season, the North Carolina A&T men's and women's track and field teams competed this weekend in High Point University's (HPU) Bob Davidson Team Challenge at Vert Stadium.

The men started their day with a win in the 4x100-meter relay. Graduate Brandon Nya , and sophomores Isaiah Taylor , Xzaviah Taylor , and Jordan Ware led the relay with a run of 39.74. Isaiah Taylor returned to the track later in the evening to win his first career 100-meter race, championing the event in 10.35.

Junior Thomas Smith IV took another victory for the sprinters in the 110-meter hurdles, clocking 14.13, and he placed third in the 400H in 53.99.

Senior Brayden Hodgest took the only gold for the men's field athletes, winning the shot put event with a throw of 57 feet, 10 ½ inches. It marks an outdoor season best for Hodgest, the indoor program record holder. He missed senior teammate Carlos Alexnder's record (58 feet, ¼ inches) by less than two inches.

Sophomore Dyimond Walker placed second in the 400m in 47.82, and freshman Rayne Williams and sophomore Kaleb Lucas placed fourth in the jumps. Williams finished with a high jump of 6 feet, 4 inches, and Lucas recorded a long jump of 23 feet, 3 ½ inches.

In the last running event for the men, Walker, Ware, Jailen Hicks — who doubles as an Aggie football player — and sophomore Caleb Gurnell claimed second place in the 4x400 in 3:11.76.

Senior Lucheyona Weaver and graduate Julieth Nwosu secured the wins on the day on the women's side. Weaver clocked 13.44 in the 100H, and Nwosu toppled the shot put competition with a throw of 50 feet, 3 ½ inches. Nwosu also finished second in the discus throw with a launch of 153 feet, 9 inches.

Doing double duty, senior Pebbles Scott finished second in the 100m with a time of 11.56, and she finished third in the 200m in 23.83. Sophomore Serenity Brazell placed third in the women's 400m, behind two University of Akron athletes with a time of 55.63.

Next week the teams will be headed to the Raleigh Relays, hosted by North Carolina State University, March 27-29, at the Paul Derr Track & Field Facility.

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