The X’s Have It – North Carolina A&T

GREENSBORO – It was a big season for North Carolina A&T men’s track and field, culminating on Thursday with two postseason outdoor track and field awards from the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) for two of its student-athletes.

Sophomore Xavier Partee claimed CAA Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. Sophomore teammate Xzaviah Taylor captured CAA Men’s Athlete of the Year.

Taylor earned second-team All-American honors from the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in the 400H. Taylor advanced to the NCAA East Prelims in 2024 in the 400H, but this season, he elevated to a new level. He won CAA outdoor titles in the 400H, 400m and he helped the 4×100 team finish second.

Taylor entered NCAA nationals with the best qualifying time coming out of the NCAA East Prelims in the 400H, running a time of 49.18 to break the program record. Additionally, he ran on the 4×400-meter relay team that won at the prestigious Drake Relays.

“It means a lot to me,” said Taylor. “I went through a couple of struggles my freshman year, learning how to run my races. Coming into my sophomore year, I made a conscious effort to put in the work. I focused on my craft. I did what I had to do, and I came to conference, and I doubled. It showed how much work I put in over the years.”

In addition to having a twin brother who excels at track, his father, Angelo Taylor, was a three-time Olympian and three-time world champion in the 4×400 relay. Therefore, he fully understands the journey and is going through the process to reach his ultimate goals.

“I just need to compete more, and having competed at NCAA nationals helps,” said Taylor. “I have to compete against the best even more. That was my first time there in my individual event, so it was a little nerve-wracking for me.

Taylor also acknowledged how much fun he had at nationals competing against the nation’s best.

“It showed me how much experience they had and that they had to wait their turn. The guy who won finished fifth two years ago, then he finished second the next year, and then, of course, this year, he won. It showed me he put in the work and just stayed patient.”

XAVIER PARTEE

Partee also has a father with a familiar name. Derrick Partee is a 2000 graduate of North Carolina A&T and the head boys basketball coach at Ben L. Smith High School in Greensboro. Xavier said there is no question he comes from a basketball family. He planned to become a walk-on for the A&T men’s basketball team upon becoming a student at A&T.

Then, by some random chance, someone encouraged him to try track and field during his senior year at Smith High School. Partee started with the high jump, but he wasn’t sold on the event. Therefore, someone suggested the triple jump. Bingo!! That led Partee to come across another familiar name and face in the Triad area – Roy “Spaceman” Thompson.

Thompson is the former legendary director of track and field at A&T and a former track and field athlete at A&T who has coached a few jump champions over the years.

“Shout out to Space,” said Partee. “He showed me so much about the event. I fell in love with it.”

During his freshman outdoor season, Partee finished second in the triple jump at the 2024 CAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Before winning the CAA indoor championship in the triple jump in 2025, Partee jumped 51 feet, 1 ¾ inches, at Texas Tech’s Corky Classic to finish eighth.  

“To go from 49 (feet) to skip 50 and go to 51, I wondered if it was a fluke,” said Partee.

He wondered about that for a while. Partee opened the outdoor season by sustaining an injury at High Point University during the Aggies outdoor track and field opener, forcing him to miss a month. When he returned, the Aggies were hosting the Aggie Invitational at Johnson Track. It was no fluke. Partee jumped 50 feet, 10 ½ inches, to win the event.

“I religiously rehabbed my hamstring injury every day,” Partee said. “Then, to do that, my first meet back, I believed I could really be something happen in this event.”  

Partee jumped 52 feet, 4 ¾ inches at the NCAA East Prelims to qualify for nationals as a sophomore. He finished 17th nationally at nationals, jumping 50 feet, 3 ¼ inches.

“I really haven’t had a second to sit with it,” said Partee about being named CAA Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. “Right now, I just feel ready for the next step. I feel ready for next year. We put in a lot of work obviously to get here, so I’m excited about getting back to work to see how much better we can do.”