N.C. A&T Alumni Times

The North Carolina A&T State men’s track and field teams have entered the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top- 25 poll this week. The men have jumped from number 30 to a program record 18th in the nation.

“It’s not No. 1, which is where I want our team to be, but it shows we’re moving in the right direction,” said N.C. A&T's director of track and field programs, Duane Ross.

The No. 18 ranking is N.C. A&T’s highest ranking ever and it is their first return to the top-25 since May 2016 when they jumped an amazing 71 spots from No. 92 to No. 21 in a week. Regionally, they sit fifth out of 15 teams in the Southeast region ranking just behind Kentucky, Virginia, Louisville and Liberty. N.C. A&T is still the only HBCU to make the USTFCCA top-25.

The Aggie men are led by a trio of sprinters all ranked individually in the top-10 national rankings. Sophomore Jaylan Mitchell is No. 1 nationally in the 100 meters with a 10-flat ran at the Aggie Invitational two weeks ago. Junior Michael Dickson is No. 5 (13.71) and senior Todd Townsend is No. 9 (13.72) in the 110 hurdles. Dickson and Townsend's times were also set at the Aggie Invite.

Junior Rodney Rowe is also a huge contributor with a pair of high rankings in the 100 and 200. Rowe ran 20.58 at the Florida Relays on March 29 and sits tied for No. 16 in the 200. In the 100, Rowe is No. 33 with a time of 10.29 recorded at the Aggie Invite. In the 400, freshman Trevor Stewart (46.38) is No. 26 and senior Dajuan Harding (46.93) is 54th. Freshman Trevor Stewart is No. 45 in the 200 with at 20.80.

The 4x100 relay team of Mitchell, senior Joel Thomas, Dickson, and Rowe ran 39.15 at the Florida Relays to rank No. 8 nationally, while the 4x400 team of junior Justin Hamilton, Stewart, Dickson and Harding are No. 25 (3:07.23). The duo of Rowe and Mitchell were part of the school record 4x100 team running 38.48 at the 2017 NCAA Championships and Hamilton and Harding are on the 4x400 school record team of 3:06.14 set at the 2017 Division East Preliminary Round.

The Aggies will wrap up their 2018 season competing at the LSU Invitational April 27-28 before hosting the MEAC Outdoor Championships May 3-5 at N.C. A&T's Irwin Belk Track.