North Carolina State standout Charleston collects victories in 100, 200 and 4x100, with Wolfpack graduate and U.S. indoor champion Cunningham doubling in 100-meter hurdles and 100 race; Division 2 stars Bassitt and Noble continue to excel, with McLear, Meyer, Igaune and Young all setting meet records

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

A mixture of Division 1 excellence, Division 2 dominance and post-collegiate power was on display Saturday at the Raleigh Relays, highlighted by spectacular performances from North Carolina State standouts past and present.

Senior Cravont Charleston won the 100-meter dash, 200 and contributed to the 4x100 relay victory for the host Wolfpack, with North Carolina State graduate and 2020 U.S. Indoor 60-meter hurdles champion Gabriele Cunningham doubling up in the 100-meter dash and 100 hurdles.

Charleston clocked a wind-legal 10.10 in the 100 final, eclipsing meet and facility records of 10.18 held by Harvey McSwain since 1983.

Charleston also ran 20.37 in the 200 and anchored the 4x100 to a 39.66 performance, three of the four victories Saturday for the Wolfpack men’s team, along with sophomore Ja’Von Douglas capturing the long jump with a leap of 24-8.50 (7.53m) in the first round, his only fair jump of the competition.

Cunningham ran a personal-best 12.90 in the 100 hurdles, taking down the 1997 meet and facility records set by South Carolina’s Melissa Morrison.

It marked the first sub-13 performance for Cunningham since May 2019 at the NCAA Division 1 East Regional in Florida.

She returned to win the 100-meter dash in 11.28 less than 20 minutes later, her best performance since the 2018 USATF Outdoor Championships in Iowa.

A pair of elite Division 2 competitors also demonstrated why they are among the best collegiate performers, regardless of division, as Ashland’s Trevor Bassitt swept both hurdles races and Christian Noble of Lee University in Tennessee ran away with the 3,000-meter steeplechase victory.

Bassitt elevated to the No. 5 all-time Division 2 competitor in the 110 hurdles by clocking 13.59 and ascended to No. 8 in division history by running 49.34 in the 400 hurdles.

Noble led 10 athletes under the 9-minute mark in the steeplechase, securing the victory in 8:39.86, improving to No. 10 all-time Division 2.

Alexander Young set meet and facility records in the men’s hammer throw with a sixth-round mark of 248-7 (75.77m). The former U.S. national champion had six throws all over 72 meters and eventually surpassed the 2008 record of 240-9 (73.40m) achieved by A.G. Kruger to ascend to No. 10 in the world this year.

Laura Igaune, an assistant coach at Elon who competes for Latvia, won the women’s hammer with a fifth-round throw of 228-10 (69.74m), surpassing her own meet and facility records of 226-1 (68.93m) from 2019.

Several other meet or facility records were broken as well, including both 800-meter races.

Virginia’s Michaela Meyer, a Delaware transfer, clocked 2:02.20 in the women’s 800 to take down the 2018 mark of 2:02.86 achieved by former Stanford standout Claudia Saunders of District Track Club.

Finley McLear of Miami (Ohio), the Division 1 indoor runner-up, clocked 1:47.43, eclipsing the 1987 meet record of 1:48.22 held by Pitt’s Tim Manes.

Furman All-American Gabrielle Jennings (9:56.30) and Notre Dame freshman Olivia Markezich (9:58.18) became the first two women’s collegiate athletes this year to run under the 10-minute mark in the 3,000 steeplechase.

Duke senior Brittany Aveni ran a wind-aided 22.96 in the women’s 200 and the Blue Devils also prevailed in the 4x100 relay by a 44.53 to 44.55 margin over Virginia.

Senior Andrenette Knight prevailed in the 400 hurdles in 58.02 for Virginia, which also had sophomore Khaysia Caldwell win the long jump with a leap of 19-11.50 (6.08m) and freshman teammate Jada Seaman finish second with a mark of 19-9 (6.02m).

The Howard women’s 4x400 relay secured victory in 3:39.29 and the Pitt men triumphed in the 4x400 in 3:10.56.