2013 Texas Relays (Friday Results)
2013 Cal-Nevada Championships (Friday Results)
2013 SF State Distance Carnival
Sending members of its squad to three different locations on Friday, the Academy of Art University track and field team simultaneously competed in the Texas Relays, Cal-Nevada Championships, and SF State Distance Carnival. Among the highlights were senior
Vashti Thomas matching her program record time in the 100m hurdles, the women's 4x400m relay team punching their ticket to the NCAA Championships in Texas, and senior
Jenny Bergren set a new school record in the 5000m at Cal-Nevada.
Austin, TX -- The Urban Knights were in their first of two days of action at the 2013 Texas Relays on Friday and several memorable performances were turned in at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas. Thomas, the
USTFCCCA National Division II Track & Field Athlete of the Week, proved that last week's AQ 12.94 in the 100mH was absolutely no fluke as she posted an identical time in the event's preliminaries.
Last week, she became just the fourth woman in DII history to dip under 13 seconds, and the first collegian – regardless of division – to do so this season. Her time was about 0.25 of a second away from the all-time collegiate Top 10. This time, she claimed 2nd of 35 behind Clemson's Brianna Rollins.
Thomas would join her teammates not long after her achievement for both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Following a 46.33 time by senior
Briana Stewart, senior
Julian Purvis, Thomas, and senior
Jesseka Raymond in the 4x100m that was 2nd on the ART U all-time list, the 4x4 team showed just how determined they were to make Nationals.
Stewart and Thomas joined
Dominique Berry and freshman
Keanna Moody for a 3:42.37 mark that immediately qualified them for the NCAAs in May. It was a new program record by more than a full second and put them 17th of 47 quartets ahead of representatives from New Mexico State, Duke, Texas-Arlington, and Grand Canyon among others.
For the men in Texas, sophomore
Jaylon Hicks hit a 10.61 in the 100m dash to take 13th of 24. He would tie program's 4th lowest mark which he has coincidentally matched now four times in his Academy of Art career.
San Diego, CA -- Out at UC San Diego's Triton Stadium for day one of the Cal-Nevada Championships, Bergren continued her historic run with Academy of Art while redshirt freshman
Shaquille Howard shined in two sprint events.
Bergren stood out with a new program record of 16:45.11 in the 5000m. She commanded 1st place overall in a field of 35 runners and did so by a considerable margin. Her time was a full 44 seconds lower than Nevada's top finisher who was 2nd overall. It was the fastest time any Division II runner has put up this year and a NCAA provisional qualifier.
Howard turned in strong performances in both the 200m dash and 400m dash, earning qualifications from the prelims to Saturday's finals in each. His time of 21.94 in the 200m was 9th of 34 and he delivered a 47.88 in the 400m to capture 6th of 35 while besting sprinters from Long Beach State and Azusa Pacific in the process.
San Francisco, CA -- A very small group of ART U athletes competed in the SF State Distance Carnival at Cox Stadium. On the women's side, freshman
Alexandria Rupert offered her second lowest time of the season in the 800m while
Keven Brown won a smaller 100m dash competition and
Troy Hines II was demonstrated his sprinting talents in the 200m and 400m.
Academy of Art returns for its second and final day in both the Texas Relays and Cal-Nevada Championships tomorrow.
