MYRTLE BEACH, S.C (March 20, 2016) – The North Carolina A&T men's and women's outdoor track and field teams had a fabulous season-opener at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational hosted by Coastal Carolina University. The men finished second with 21 points behind South Carolina (32 pts), and the women tied for fifth with Liberty. The ladies gained 12 points which put them ahead of ten other teams, excluding South Carolina (36 pts), Clemson (23 pts), Purdue (18 pts) and St. Augustine's College (15 pts).
Over the three-day competition, the Aggies saw two school records fall, recorded several top-10 performances, set many personal records and several freshmen made their season debuts.
There were even two winners over the weekend. Junior Frank Quarles placed first in the men's long jump, leaping 24-feet, 5-3/4 inches. It was Quarles' fourth career victory in an outdoor long jump event. Freshman Rodney Rowe had a superb collegiate debut in the men's 100 meters by running a 10.46 in the preliminary round to finish second. He then won the event in the final with a time of 10.60. Belcher competed with Rowe in the 100 and finished third in 10.75.
Also on the men's side, juniors Perry Cabean and Darren White both surpassed the school record in the 10,000-meter run. The previous record of 33:15.67 was set by Saeed Jones in 2012. White placed fifth in the event with a time of 33:01.87 and Cabean set the new school record with his fourth-place finish of 32:56.59. Freshman Hakeem Mustafaa finished sixth in the event at 34:02.09.
Points, however, were only delivered during the relay events. The men earned 10 points in the 4x100 meter relay after they finished first with a time of 40.19. Juniors Maurice Eaddy, Frank Quarles and freshmen Michael Dickson and Rowe were the event sprinters.
Rowe also competed in the 4x200, which earned an additional five points for the team, with Belcher, freshman Justin Hamilton and sophomore Dajuan Harding. They finished fourth in 1:23.99. Hamilton and Harding also competed in the 4x400 along with junior Dorian Claggett and sophomore Corey Aiken. The foursome finished in third place in 3:10.37 to garner six points.
Sophomore Nehemiah Lipford's PR jump of 6-feet, 8 ¾-inches in the high jump capsulated a productive season-opening meet for the men.
As for the women, their points were secured in two relays. The 4x2 that featured sophomores Morgan Knight and India Brown and freshmen Yakira Love and Kayla White earned six points and broke the school record by finishing third in 1:36.23. It was enough to topple the 1:36.28 record set in 2011. The quartet ran again in the 4x1 and gained an additional six points after again finishing third, this time in 45.49.
Like Rowe on the men's side, White's debut in the 100 was spectacular. She won the preliminary in 11.63 before running an 11.74 to champion the event. Love placed fifth in the 100 final with a time of 12.03. She ran the preliminary event in 11.94. White ran again in the women's 200 and finished fourth in 23.94.
This weekend the teams will split up to attend the Texas Relays at the University of Texas on March 24 and the UNF Spring Break Invitational at the University of North Florida on March 25.
