NEW YORK (Jan. 18, 2025) … The Hampton University men's and women's indoor track and field teams participated in the HBCU Challenge at the Armory in New York City on Saturday and came out with several personal marks, one school record and a team trophy for the women.

For the second straight season, the Hampton women's team took home the team title accumulating 120 points. Howard was second with 95 points, while Florida A&M was third with 80 out of 15 teams participating.

On the men's side, Norfolk State took home the team title (126.5 points) with Florida A&M (62), Howard (51) and Hampton (46) finishing the top four.

Track Highlights

Brianna Charles came out of the event with a pair of second place finishes individually and two personal bests as she took second in both the 60 meter dash (7.51) and in the 200 meter dash (23.84).

She was also part of the winning 4x400 meter relay team with Jordan Mozie, Morgan Pruitt and Kayla Spencer in a time of 3:47.42. Pruitt also set a personal best in the 200 meters coming in fifth in 24.65.

Hampton women went 1-3 in the 500 meters as Kaylee King won in 1:16.34 and Arriah Gilmer was third in 1:16.59 with both setting personal bests.

For the men, Hampton was 2-6 in the 800 meters as Mohammed Al-YaFee took second in 1:53.54 and Xavier Jemison was sixth in 1:55.47. Al-YaFee's time put him on the NCAA national qualifying list.

In the 400 meters, Chadison Cowan set a personal best running 48.55 to take seventh and make the NCAA qualifying list.

Khari Barnes was seventh in the 60 meters running 6.93.

Field Highlights

The school record for the day came on the men's side as Floyd Tucker won the pole vault with a leap of 4.70m (15-5). He broke the previous mark of Trey Clark in 2018 at 4.63m.

The other winner on the men's side was Fanon Miller who won the weight throw with a toss of 15.76m (51-8.5).

Daven Gibson was fourth in the high jump with a leap of 2.0 meters (6-6.75), while Joseph Ernest was third in the triple jump with a personal best of 14.89m which put him in the top 60 nationally.

The women made a splash right out of the gate as they combined for 25 points in the shot put with a 1-2-5-6 finish.  Rochele Solmon threw a personal best 14.95 meters (49-0.75) and put herself in the top 55 nationally with that toss.  Nya Harmon was second (14.62m), Oluwatomilayo Akintunde was fifth (13.85m) and Victoria Caldwell was sixth (13.72m).

They followed that with compiling 21 points in the weight throw with a 1-3-5-8 finish. Caldwell won that with a toss of 18.37m (60-3.25) to put her in the top 75 nationally. Akintunde was third (16.87m), Jaida Graham was fifth with a personal best of 16.26m and Damali Williams was eighth in 14.63m.

In the long jump, Hampton women came away with a first and a fourth as Saniyah Evans won the event with a leap of 5.82m (19-1.25) and Caylie Jefferson was fourth in 5.57m (18-3.25).

For a full list of Hampton results from the meet – click here.

Next Up
Hampton heads to Lynchburg to participate in the Brant Tolsma Invitational next weekend at Liberty