2013 Texas Relays (Final Results)
2013 Cal-Nevada Championships (Final Results)

The Urban Knights added to their already historic outdoor season with more stellar performances Saturday in the Texas Relays and Cal-Nevada Championships. Senior Vashti Thomas mastered the 100m hurdles with a time bordering the all-time collegiate Top 10 in the event finals at the Texas Relays. Senior Briana Stewart also came through with a personal best in the 100mH invitational in Texas while four members from ART U Men's Track & Field posted a new program record in the 4x400m relay at Cal-Nevada.

"Overall, Texas Relays is one of those meets where you see what an environment can do for or to an athlete," head coach Charles Ryan said. "We had some strong performances and then others that were below the standard that we set for ourselves coming into the weekend, but that's why we come to venues like this so we can learn about ourselves and grow for the future. It's always great to compete here and I think we represented ART U very well this weekend."

Austin, TX -- One two Academy of Art athletes competing on Saturday inside Mike A. Myers Stadium, Thomas did what few have ever done in the collegiate 100mH.

After hitting a 12.94 in her previous two competitions in the event (including the preliminaries the day prior), Thomas significantly lowered her time in the finals, going 12.70 despite a wind factor. The mark was extremely close to the Top 10 best ever run at the collegiate level.

"It feels good, but not as good as it would feel if it was wind legal," Thomas said. "When I was at the start, I was just thinking about having fun. My body already knows what to do so I just let it do what it does."

In the invitational of the 100mH, Stewart delivered a personal record of 13.31. She and Thomas had already assured their spots in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in previous meets, but the duo again showed they are determined to reach their maximum potential in this final collegiate season.

"It's always an honor to be doing what I'm doing under the Academy of Art," Thomas said. "It's about getting our name out there and showing people that just because I'm an artist, doesn't mean I'm any less of an athlete and vice versa."

"We had a great Saturday. Both Briana and Vashti had amazing performances," Coach Ryan said. "Briana seems to sharpen herself up a little more with each race which is what you want to see as a coach. She is on her way to great things in the 100mH and new challenges in other events so I'm quite excited to see how things unfold for her in the weeks to come. Vashti was in beast mode today. 12.70 is a world class time and she put a lot of people on notice today. That was a statement race."

San Diego, CA -- With only the men's side representing in Saturday's events, the 4x400m relay team was the true standout at the Cal-Nevada Championships inside Triton Stadium. Redshirt freshman Shaquille Howard, senior Erik Piedad, Stephen Peevy, and Ricco McCloud combined to produce a time of 3:17.79 which serves as the new Urban Knights program record by more than two full seconds.

Individually, Howard dropped down from yesterday's prelim time in the 400m dash to a 47.17 on Saturday in the finals. He would claim second overall of the eight competing sprinters, besting one from Sacramento State and a trio from Long Beach State.

Next weekend, the Urban Knights will be in action at the Sun Angel Classic hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, AZ. The meet is scheduled for three days, beginning Thursday, Apr. 4 and concluding Saturday, Apr. 6.