Bethune-Cookman won its first-ever MEAC Indoor Track and Field Championship. On the men’s side, the title came down to the 1600-meter relay Saturday evening at the Prince George’s County Sports and Learning Complex.

A&T went into the final event trailing the Wildcats by 2.5 points. The Wildcats won the first of two sections with a time of 3:19.07. The Aggies knew they needed to run a faster time with the hopes of knocking the Wildcats out of the top eight to win the title.

The team of senior Keenan Smith, sophomores Todd Townsend and Dorian Claggett and freshman Dajuan Harding finished in 3:19.06 to earn three points with a sixth-place finish. B-CU finished seventh, adding two points to win the title, 125.5-124. Maryland Eastern Shore finished third with 107 points.

There were several races that put the Aggies in the position to win the title on the final event.

Senior Desmond Lawrence set a MEAC record in the men’s 60-meter dash, winning in 6.64 seconds. That victory complements the 100-meter title he won during the conference outdoor meet in 2014. Lawrence also finished second in the men’s 200 in 21.65.

Senior Keenan Smith claimed the men’s fourth individual title of the weekend when he jumped 51 feet, 4¼ inches to win the triple jump.

“I’m proud of the performances our men had this weekend,” said Duane Ross, director of track and field programs. “They have a lot of heart. We’re disappointed in the outcome, but our team learned a valuable lesson this weekend. You can’t make mistakes and expect to win championships. We’ll continue to work hard and get ready for the NCAA indoor championships and then the outdoor season.”

Hampton won the women’s title with 112.5 points. Bethune-Cookman finished second (108.5), while the youthful Aggies came in third (89).

“So happy and proud for our women,” Ross said. “We’re a very young team that competed like veterans this weekend. We had a huge improvement on last season’s performance, and it’s only going to get better.”

Freshman Morgan Knight claimed her first career individual title by winning the women’s 60-meter hurdles at 8.65. Knight also scored well in the women’s pole vault, finishing third with a personal-best 10 feet, 5½ inches. Freshmen Qizeah Jackson was the Aggies’ top scorer with a total of 24 points.

In the women’s sprints, Jackson (7.53), India Brown (7.55) and Sloan Williams (7.60) finished second, third and sixth in the 60. Jackson finished third in the finals of the women’s 200 meter with a personal-best 24.20. Brown captured fifth (24.45) and freshman Reneazia Collins finished sixth (24.68).

Collins finished sixth in the 400 at 56.72. Collins also placed eighth in the 60-meter hurdles at 9.12.

The Aggies are not finished with indoor track. Their next meet is scheduled for Saturday at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem. Then they move on to the NCAA indoor championships.