Three months after losing the MEAC indoor championships by 1.5 points, the Aggie men finished second by just one point at the 2015 MEAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at A&T’s Irwin Belk Track. 

The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, the same team the Aggies lost to in February, posted 139 points to win the title, while the Aggies took the second-place trophy again, scoring 138 points.  The A&T women finished fifth with 75 points.

The final event of the evening was the men’s 1,600-meter relay. The Aggies needed to finish at least third for the win but finished fourth. They were still able to run their fastest time of the season, 3:11.69, but the five points earned by freshman Dajuan Harding, senior Keenan Smith, sophomore Caleb Gabriel and freshman Corey Aiken weren’t enough to win the title. 

“I’m very proud of our men’s program,” said Duane Ross, director of track and field programs. “Those guys came in and fought. Bethune-Cookman is a very good team. I think the MEAC as a whole is getting more and more competitive.”

Despite the loss, the Aggies finished with five first-place finishes on the final day of the championships.  The men’s 400-meter relay team of sophomores Maurice Eaddy, Frank Quarles, Gabriel and senior Marquis Noble ran their fastest time of the season, 39.38, to win gold. 

Gabriel continued the Aggies’ dominance in the 100 meters, finishing first with a personal-record 10.29. Aggies have won the MEAC 100 in five of the last eight years. Two other Aggies will compete with Gabriel for 100 supremacy over the next few years as Eaddy finished fourth with a personal-best 10.34, and Quarles had a sixth-place finish in 10.45.

Gabriel claimed a few more points for the Aggies as he finished second with a personal best in the 200 (21.16) behind Hampton’s Chidi Okezie (20.92). Smith ran a personal-record 21.42 to finish fifth. 

Smith, however, was not able to complete a three-peat in the men’s triple jump. He ended his last MEAC championship with a second-place finish with a leap of 50-feet, 3 ½ inches.

The female winners included freshman Morgan Knight. She started the day with a first-place finish in the women’s pole vault with a jump of 11-feet, 5 ¼ inches, a new personal record. Knight collected another 10 points when she won the women’s 100 meter hurdles with a personal record time of 13.59. The women’s 400 meter relay team of freshmen India Brown, Reneazia Collins, Qizeah Jackson and senior Latrese Barker ran 45. 21 to give the Aggies the sweep (men and women) in the 4x1. 

“I’m not quite pleased with our women’s performance,” Ross said. “We finished third indoors. We should have had a better finish this outdoor season.”

Brown was one of the Aggie freshmen showing the Lady Aggies’ potential to get better. She ran a personal record of 11.43 in the 100 meters to finish second. Collins finished seventh overall at 12.27. Brown also ran a personal record in the 200 at 23.36 to finish third. Collins finished fifth in the 200 with a personal-record 23.86, while Jackson placed seventh at 24.11. Sophomore Daniqua Dye finished fifth in the women’s 400 meter hurdles at 1:02.95.

Freshman Miranda Green ran a personal-record 4:43.18 in the 1500 meter run to place sixth. Green also ran a personal-best 11:43.03 in the 3000 meter steeplechase to finish seventh. Collins finished sixth in the women’s 400 (55.28).

The Aggies will be back in action May 17 to host the Aggie Last Chance meet.