Arguably the best HBCU track program of the past decade just made history again.
The North Carolina A&T Track and Field program, led by director Duane Ross, just won the Men’s Indoor National Championship in the 4×400 relay for the first time in school history, after one of the most impressive walk-downs of the year by A&T’s Trevor Stewart.
This is the first time an HBCU track program has won a national title in this event since 1966 when Morgan State won the second of its back-to-back championships. But on Saturday, North Carolina A&T’s relay team — Stewart, Randolph Ross Jr., Elijah Young, and Daniel Stokes — recorded the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history, clocking in at 3:03:16.
While it may be surprising to see an HBCU grabbing a national championship amongst the likes of Power Five opponents, the fact that North Carolina A&T would be the one to capture the throne shouldn’t shock anyone.
Ross has been building a powerhouse program at North Carolina A&T since 2012. In his tenure, eight athletes have earned first-team All-American honors in either indoor or outdoor including four athletes who have earned multiple first-team honors. In addition, eight other athletes have earned second-team All-American honors with three of those student-athletes earning multiple second-team honors.
In 2019, Kayla White won a national championship by capturing the 200m indoor title. It was the first national championship for the school in any sport.
The Aggies track and field program has been ranked in the top ten in the nation numerous times over the last few years in both indoor and outdoor. They were set to show out in the NCAA championships last year before COVID derailed their hopes.
After a year of racial awakening where we saw HBCUs be pushed to the forefront for the first time, it is nice to see a program like NCAT continuing to obtain national power and prominence.
The Aggies will now look to focus their efforts on the outdoor season and try to capture more hardware.
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