North Carolina A&T’s Rowe shines at NCAA Track and Field Championships

Eugene, Ore. – Junior sprinter Rodney Rowe and the men’s 4×100-meter relay team booked berths in the outdoor championship finals as the North Carolina A&T men’s track and field team wrapped up the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Wednesday at historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

As a result, each participant will earn first-team All-American honors. Rowe’s advancements to the 200m and 4×100 finals put him an exclusive Aggie Club. He will join Chris Belcher as the only two Aggies in history to be three-time first-team All-Americans after Rowe earned first-team honors in the 4×100 last season.

Four more Aggies will walk away with second-team All-American honors. Freshman Trevor Stewart will earn multiple second-team All-American accolades. Stewart placed 10th in the 400m with a time of 45.35 while he and his 4×400 teammates, senior Justin Hamilton, junior Michael Dickson and senior Dajuan Harding ran 3:07.02 to place 16th.

N.C. A&T opened competition at nationals with the 4×100. Senior Joel Thomas, junior Michael Dickson, freshman Michael Bell and Rowe completed the relay with a season-best time of 39.05 falling just short of heat winner Florida State (39.00). They earned an automatic qualifying berth into Friday’s final ranking 10th amongst the field.

Last year, the 4×100 team ran 38.57 to win bronze at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the qualifying round last season, the 4×100 ran a 38.48 for the ninth-fastest time in NCAA history. The Aggies relay squad will be back on the track at 8:32 p.m. EST, Friday.

Rowe won the third heat of the 200m semifinals with a time of 20.49 qualifying for Friday’s final at 10:07 p.m. EST. He ranks eighth heading into the finals and looks to wrap up a superb 2018 after earning second-team All-American honors during the NCAA indoor championships in February.

Courtesy: NCA&T Athletics