BATON ROUGE, La. - Medals and top performances came fast and frequently for the Xavier men's track and field team on the second day of the 2026 Pelican Relays at Southern University. 

The Gold Rush earned five medals and had two more athletes qualify for the NAIA national meet. Jaheene Bell and Mansur Ali were the unquestioned stars of the day for XULA, with both men winning gold and qualifying for the NAIA national meet. 

It didn't take XULA long to start racking up superlatives. 

Ali, who already took gold in the hammer throw on Friday, won the first field event of the day. He placed first in the discus and fourth in the shot put on Saturday. His 52.04-meter throw in the discus sent him to the NAIA national meet with an A-standard qualification. 

Bell took first place in the 400-meter hurdles with a 52.38, the 4th-best time in the NAIA and 8th-best time among HBCUs this season. His time was two-tenths clear of the NAIA A-qualifying standard.

Any race that measured 400 meters belonged to the Gold Rush, as Karri Noel took gold and Tremanie Hamilton bronze in the individual race, and the team of Bell, Noel, Hamilton, and D'Kirian Allen won the 4X400 relay in a time of 3:15.47, the 10th-best time in the NAIA and 22nd-best time among HBCUs this season. The time was less than a half-second off the NAIA qualifying standard. 

Noel, already an All-American in the indoor 400, is drawing closer to a qualifying time in the outdoor event. His Saturday time of 47.97 was within four-tenths of the NAIA qualifying standard. 

Benjamin Ford, who represented the Gold Rush in the 3,000, was another medal-winner, taking bronze in a time of 9:54.59.