Track & Field Teams Compete at NC A&T Last Chance Meet

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Columbia College track and field teams competed at the NC A&T Last Chance Meet, the Aggie Classic, on Friday and Saturday in Greensboro, NC.

Outdoor AAC Champion Dara Gray led the Koala women by placing 6th of 16 in the 100M on Saturday afternoon in 12 seconds as she defeated numerous D-1 athletes from Elon, NC A&T, NC State, and Howard. Gray then finished 15th of 21 in the 200M on Friday in 25.05 seconds.

During the 4x100M relay on Saturday, the Lady Koalas placed 5th in a time of 48.5 seconds competing against all D-1 teams from NC A&T and Elon. The team featured sophomore sprinters Faith Eugene, Kwamecia Marks, Tylashia Alston, and Jayla Graham in the anchor leg. The men's 4x100M relay team was not able to finish their race, however.

In the two women's field events that CC competed in, the Long Jump and Triple Jump, the Lady Koalas were led by sophomore J. Graham and junior AAC Champion Makayla Blango. Graham went on to finish 5th of 12 in the Long Jump on Saturday with a mark of nearly 5.1 meters (16.5 ft) while finishing 3rd among non-D-1 jumpers. Blango then placed 8th at 5.05 meters while freshman Chenoa Haygood was 11th at 4.84 meters (15.5 ft).

In the women's Triple Jump on Friday, Blango led the team placing in a tie for 6th with a mark of 11.5 meters (37.5 ft) while Haygood finished 11th at 10.36 meters (34 ft). Then, during the men's Triple Jump on Friday afternoon, freshman Nevan Gaither finished 5th of 10 with a mark of 13.86 meters (45.5 ft).

Finally, in the men's 800 meters on Saturday afternoon, freshman DJ McGriff-Agers finished 9th of 16 with a time in under 2 minutes at 1:58.5 as he almost tied for 7th overall. McGriff was only beaten by Div. I runners from Howard and A&T.

The track and field team will next prepare to compete in the NAIA National Championships on May 20-22 in Asheville, NC.