The fans in Drake Stadium for the 111th Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom saw the foundations of one of the top seasons in track & field being laid by North Carolina A&T when the Aggies made their first-ever visit to the Drake Relays.
 
N.C. A&T continued the Drake Relays' legacy of attracting the nation's top teams to the Blue Oval as they were the only program in the NCAA Championship field to have both its men's and women's teams finish in the top four. The Aggie men earned a third-place finish while the women were fourth.
 
"I think some of our competition is still struggling with the fact that we are better," N.C. A&T head coach Duane Ross said according to a University news release. "They should have been paying attention when I claimed it before it happened. We take what we do over here seriously like everybody else. We're passionate about our track and field program. Our kids are passionate about what they do. This is nothing new for us. I know a lot of people are surprised about what we did this weekend, but they shouldn't be."
 
Drake Relays fans were paying attention and more than aware of N.C. A&T's elite track & field program after watching the Aggies dazzle the field in April. N.C. A&T's Cambrea Sturgis was named the Drake Relays Most Outstanding Women's Performer and proved to more than deserving of the honor as she swept the 100 and 200-meter titles at the NCAA Championships while guiding the Aggies' 4x100-meter relay to a third-place finish.
 
"Coach Ross has built a culture at N.C. A&T that is impressive, to say the least," said Blake Boldon, the Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays. "His willingness to showcase the Aggies at the 2021 Drake Relays while taking on all challengers is a testament to their competitiveness and his commitment to promoting our sport. We look forward to welcoming them back in 2022 when many other top national programs, the Big Ten programs, return to the Blue Oval."
 
Sturgis was a top-three finisher in three races on the Blue Oval, including two first-place finishes in winning the 4x100 and the 4x400 relays and finishing second in the 100 meters behind teammate Symone Darius.
 
Sturgis was not the only individual NCAA Champion for the Aggies as Duane Ross, Jr. won the men's 400 meters with the fastest time in the world this season and then helped the Aggies win the 4x400-meter relay title. The 4x400-meter relay championship capped a season in which the Aggies boasted the best relay team in the nation for the entire season that included a white flag at the Drake Relays.