South Carolina Invitational - Feb 3-4, 2023

[Aggie77]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb. 2, 2023) – South Carolina Track & Field will host its final two-day indoor meet of the season this weekend, playing host to the South Carolina Invitational. The Gamecocks will begin the meet on Friday, capping the event off with the 4×400 meter relay on Saturday afternoon.

Follow the Meet
Live results for the Columbia Challenge can be found by clicking here. Fans can also follow along with updates on Twitter by following @gamecocktrack.

Aggie Results

[Aggie77]

Senior thrower Julieth Nwosu secured the sole win for the Aggies indoor track and field men's and women's teams with a dominating performance in the women's shot put. Nwosu's best throw measured a personal best 54-feet, 6 ½-inches to shatter her previous PR of 48-feet, 1 ¼-inches. No one came within a foot and a half of Nwosu in Saturday's competition, and the discrepancy is even larger in the conference rankings. Nwosu moved to No. 1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), where there is nearly a five-foot gap between her and second-ranked William & Mary shot putter Keeley Suzenski.


Junior Reheem Hayles came into the day undefeated in his first five races of the season, including Friday's win in the 400 meters at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex. Hayles' five-race winning streak did end with a second-place finish in the men's 200m dash. It was Hayles' debut in the event. His 21.52 places him third in the conference.

It also appeared that Hayles may have also lost his undefeated streak in the 4x400. Hayles, Nya, Chambers and graduate transfer Ryan Saint-Germain finished their 4x400-meter relay race in 3:07.44. They finished second behind an unattached team of professionals who ran a 3:04.99. That means Hayes and his teammates remain undefeated against collegiate competition despite not getting the win.

Senior Kenady Wilson made her season debut in the women's high jump with a third-place finish of 5-feet, 8-inches. Last year, Wilson took gold in the high jump at the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships. She also has an outdoor high jump Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship. She is tied for third in the conference.


Article link

[marchingband1969]

Feb 6, 2023 13:53:22 GMT -5 Aggie77 said:

Senior thrower Julieth Nwosu secured the sole win for the Aggies indoor track and field men's and women's teams with a dominating performance in the women's shot put. Nwosu's best throw measured a personal best 54-feet, 6 ½-inches to shatter her previous PR of 48-feet, 1 ¼-inches. No one came within a foot and a half of Nwosu in Saturday's competition, and the discrepancy is even larger in the conference rankings. Nwosu moved to No. 1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), where there is nearly a five-foot gap between her and second-ranked William & Mary shot putter Keeley Suzenski.


Junior Reheem Hayles came into the day undefeated in his first five races of the season, including Friday's win in the 400 meters at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex. Hayles' five-race winning streak did end with a second-place finish in the men's 200m dash. It was Hayles' debut in the event. His 21.52 places him third in the conference.

It also appeared that Hayles may have also lost his undefeated streak in the 4x400. Hayles, Nya, Chambers and graduate transfer Ryan Saint-Germain finished their 4x400-meter relay race in 3:07.44. They finished second behind an unattached team of professionals who ran a 3:04.99. That means Hayes and his teammates remain undefeated against collegiate competition despite not getting the win.

Senior Kenady Wilson made her season debut in the women's high jump with a third-place finish of 5-feet, 8-inches. Last year, Wilson took gold in the high jump at the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships. She also has an outdoor high jump Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship. She is tied for third in the conference.


Article link

Thanks for the "facts" but what's the back story. Are we going to make noise in the CAA this year or will it take us a few years to get more talent in? Inquiring minds want to know!

[B]

The women are ranked 82 this week. The men are ranked 66. It looks like we're ranked 3rd in the conference. However, nationally we're the top ranked CAA team for men and I think 2nd for women.

[codeblu78]

I will have to cheer extra hard for the kids that decided not to follow Ross to UT. Hayles was a big time recruit and could have easily gone to any school in the country after Ross left (as well others)

That Blue & Gold run deep!

[saabman]

Feb 6, 2023 15:48:37 GMT -5 marchingband1969 said:

Feb 6, 2023 13:53:22 GMT -5 Aggie77 said:

Senior thrower Julieth Nwosu secured the sole win for the Aggies indoor track and field men's and women's teams with a dominating performance in the women's shot put. Nwosu's best throw measured a personal best 54-feet, 6 ½-inches to shatter her previous PR of 48-feet, 1 ¼-inches. No one came within a foot and a half of Nwosu in Saturday's competition, and the discrepancy is even larger in the conference rankings. Nwosu moved to No. 1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), where there is nearly a five-foot gap between her and second-ranked William & Mary shot putter Keeley Suzenski.


Junior Reheem Hayles came into the day undefeated in his first five races of the season, including Friday's win in the 400 meters at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex. Hayles' five-race winning streak did end with a second-place finish in the men's 200m dash. It was Hayles' debut in the event. His 21.52 places him third in the conference.

It also appeared that Hayles may have also lost his undefeated streak in the 4x400. Hayles, Nya, Chambers and graduate transfer Ryan Saint-Germain finished their 4x400-meter relay race in 3:07.44. They finished second behind an unattached team of professionals who ran a 3:04.99. That means Hayes and his teammates remain undefeated against collegiate competition despite not getting the win.

Senior Kenady Wilson made her season debut in the women's high jump with a third-place finish of 5-feet, 8-inches. Last year, Wilson took gold in the high jump at the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships. She also has an outdoor high jump Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship. She is tied for third in the conference.


Article link

Thanks for the "facts" but what's the back story. Are we going to make noise in the CAA this year or will it take us a few years to get more talent in? Inquiring minds want to know!

A&T is making noise already in the CAA. I would say A&T is about 1 or 2 recruiting classes away from dominance in the CAA. Regionally and Nationally is going to take some time but the foundation is looking good going forward.

[Maxell]

I also think the ability to add the right assistant coaches will bolster the recruiting efforts. Adding 3-4 more coaches will make a huge difference in building back the women sprinters, jumps and distance.

[oleschoolaggie]

i tried to warn folks not to expect a return to the top 25 anytime soon, much less "top 5" where coach ross had us. it wouldn't even shock me if we "never" return to the "top 5" again within my lifetime. it takes a "very special coach" to achieve that, not just a coach who has olympic credentials alone. there's a "plethora" of college coaches who have olympic credentials, but none have achieved "top 5" status at the d1 level at an hbcu except coach ross and i don't expect it to happen again in the near future.

we caught "lightning in a bottle" when we hired coach ross. just like jsu caught "lightning in a bottle" when they hired coach prime. i would luv to see us return to the top 25 or even better, "top 5". but i don't expect it to happen, though i hope it will. however, i'm smart enough to know not to hold my breath waiting for it to happen...

[Maxell]

Feb 6, 2023 19:03:32 GMT -5 oleschoolaggie said:

i tried to warn folks not to expect a return to the top 25 anytime soon, much less "top 5" where coach ross had us. it wouldn't even shock me if we "never" return to the "top 5" again within my lifetime. it takes a "very special coach" to achieve that, not just a coach who has olympic credentials alone. there's a "plethora" of college coaches who have olympic credentials, but none have achieved "top 5" status at the d1 level at an hbcu except coach ross and i don't expect it to happen again in the near future.

we caught "lightning in a bottle" when we hired coach ross. just like jsu caught "lightning in a bottle" when they hired coach prime. i would luv to see us return to the top 25 or even better, "top 5". but i don't expect it to happen, though i hope it will. however, i'm smart enough to know not to hold my breath waiting for it to happen...

Much of our problem is that we treat Black success as an aberration. And BTW, so does the larger society. They celebrate it, then steal it or buy it. We should treat success as a trail blazed, a pattern to follow, a foundation to build on, something to treasure, not something that will never happen again.

Most of the time when we can't repeat success is because we don't believe it, or the "system" adjusts to keep it from happening again. Case in point, Tuten was arguably on track to surpass Cohen's exploits at A&T. The "system" adjustment is the transfer portal. It is built to keep smaller programs down UNLESS we build the infrastructure to become a destination rather than an exit.

The "system" has adjusted since Obama became President, but that doesn't mean we don't adjust, too. Our track program will be back!

[captaggie]

Well said.

[aggieblackie2]

As usual OSA is negative in his thoughts about A&T sports.

[oleschoolaggie]

as usual, oleschool is "honest" about his thoughts. don't give a dayum who agrees or disagrees, and i most certainly ain't gone say stuff i don't believe just to please the masses. i ain't trying to win no popularity contest and i dayum sho ain't running for no political office.

so peer pressure will never influence my posts, nor will it alter my values or beliefs. and just for the record, i was by far "the first" bdv poster on this message board to ever place "national championship" aspirations and expectations on our track program. let me repeat that again, i was by far "the first" bdv poster on this message board to ever place "national championship" aspirations and expectations on our track program.

when i first brought up the realistic possibility that a&t could win a national championship, "NOBODY" believed nor expected a&t track to challenge for a d1 national championship. nobody else even posted that they agreed or nothing!

so as history shows, i raise expectations when its "justified" to raise expectations. however, what i don't do is raise expectations just because of peer pressure or just to make folk feel good about themselves...

[saabman]

This is not a competition on here as to who is right are wrong . We all have our opinion. Yes Ross was an amazing evaluator of talent and a great coach . But even with Ross he had a Foundation to work from provided by Spaceman and it still took him years (10 I think)to reach that level . Johnson has the foundation Ross provided now he just has to add the necessary athletes . Be careful what you wish for because if Coach Johnson is successful too soon . We will be having this conversation about our new coach again . Nothing Ross did is unachievable or cannot be duplicated . So stop looking backwards and be focused on the now .

[Maxell]

OSA, the litmus test will be recruiting this year. Let's see how many state champions or nationally ranked high schoolers Johnson can get in his first full recruiting class this spring. If he gets two or more we will be on our way. If he gets none, I will be worried.

[oleschoolaggie]

Feb 7, 2023 2:27:47 GMT -5 saabman said:

This is not a competition on here as to who is right are wrong . We all have our opinion. Yes Ross was an amazing evaluator of talent and a great coach . But even with Ross he had a Foundation to work from provided by Spaceman and it still took him years (10 I think)to reach that level . Johnson has the foundation Ross provided now he just has to add the necessary athletes . Be careful what you wish for because if Coach Johnson is successful too soon . We will be having this conversation about our new coach again . Nothing Ross did is unachievable or cannot be duplicated. So stop looking backwards and be focused on the now .

actually coach ross was hired at a&t in 2012, i believe. took him about 4 years before he won his first meac championship and 3 years later (2019) our men were ranked in the "top 10" for the first time, if i'm not mistaken.

so yes, it took coach ross several years before we became a "national power" but coach ross had far less to initially build from than coach johnson has. we had "zero" track all americans when coach ross first arrived, unlike coach johnson who has a couple. spaceman's last meac championship occurred in '96. after that, a&t was "middle of the pack" at best in the meac. norfolk "dominated" the meac from about '98 until coach ross knocked them off the mountain top in 2016 and never looked back.

so i respectfully disagree that ross had as much to build from as johnson. but i'd still give coach johnson just as much time as it took coach ross to build a nationally ranked program which was about 6 or 7 years. there's still a couple of "all americans" remaining in our program, though nowhere as many as when coach ross was here. but coach johnson has the luxury of beginning his era having a stronger overall roster and a couple of "all americans", whereas coach ross didn't have any when he first arrived.

not only did coach ross just like coach johnson have olympic credentials, but he also demonstrated the ability to "recruit" top notch athletes, especially "sprinters". like i always say, to me "recruiting" ability is the most important attribute (not the only attribute) that a head coach of any sport at the college level should have. so we need to give coach johnson plenty of time to bring in talent (that he recruited) before judging how far he can take our program cuz "recruiting" is the key.

but he has a very difficult act to follow. coach ross' achievements at a&t were "historic and unprecedented" at a d1 hbcu. no one should trivialize the task of duplicating and/or exceeding the accomplishments of a coach whose accomplishments had "NEVER" been done before until coach ross arrived. so i base my "opinion" on "history". i don't base my opinion on "emotions".

i don't believe in raising folks' expectations only for them to come "crashing down" when it doesn't happen. so i'm not gonna sit here and say things that i don't personally believe just to make some folk feel good. and i don't want nobody telling me stuff that's based on emotions rather than history or "facts".

give it to me "straight" without window dressing. that's how i roll. no "window dressing" coming from me, i call things exactly the way that i see it. in other words, "total honesty". nothing more, nothing less...