2014 Sacramento State Hornet Invitational Results

2014 Johnny Mathis Invitational Results

Splitting up the squad to compete in both the Sacramento State Hornet Invitational and San Francisco State's Johnny Mathis Invitational, Academy of Art University Track & Field enjoyed a great deal of success in its first fully-loaded meet of the outdoor season. Both male and female Urban Knights captured meet records at Hornet while a bevy of top 10 placements came locally at Johnny Mathis.

"We obviously had a pretty good day today," head coach Charles Ryan said. "I consider this weekend to truly be the start to our outdoor season. Anytime your athletes can set a meet record that's a pretty big deal. When you set four in one day, you know everyone was dialed in."

Sacramento, CA – Held at the future site of the 2014 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Hornet Invitational saw ART U whet its appetite for history with four meet records and nine NCAA provisional qualifying times on Saturday. The top performances came from Dinesha Bean (100mH), Racquel Jones (LJ), Jordan Edwards (400m), and Edgar Panford (TJ).

Bean, coming off her NCAA DII All-American honors in the indoor 100m hurdles and 4x400m relay, went right to work in outdoor, pacing a field of 33 in the 100m dash. She turned in an 11.81 which was good for a NCAA provisional qualifier. Jones (8th) and Amanda Odesjo (10th) rounded out a nice collective result for the Knights sprinters.

In the 100m hurdles, Bean would again place 1st of 21 overall and this time she dropped a new Hornet Invitational record of 13.62 to best the previous mark of 13.71 set two years ago. This time was also a NCAA provisional qualifier, putting Bean in solid position at the start of outdoor.

"Bean had a pair of NCAA qualifying marks today and that's big for us," Coach Ryan said. "Any chance we have to defend our outdoor title rests on her shoulders. Bean has the talent to be a multi-event All-American for us. She, like Racquel, is trying to go out with a bang in her final season of collegiate track. She is finally healthy and motivated, something I know she has been waiting for a long time to see."

Jones was part of an Academy of Art trifecta atop the long jump results. Alumni Vashti Thomas had the best distance of the day, going 19-9, but it was Jones' second place mark of 19-5.25 which now serves as the new collegiate meet record (toppling one from eight years ago) and gave her a NCAA provisional qualifier as well. Jasmin Guinn came in third, offering an 18-3.75.

"Racquel seems to gain more confidence every week," Coach Ryan said. "She has had a long road to travel to finally arrive to this point. She is healthy, motivated, and competing with a purpose. She is a big piece of whatever national aspirations our women's team will have this year. I'm very happy for her."

Other highlights from the sprint events included a ninth place finish for Dierra Haven out of 43 competitors in the 200m dash and Mistic Scott taking sixth of 31 in the 400m with Haven right behind her in seventh. Keanna Moody placed eighth of 18 in the 400m hurdles as well.

"Dierra had to a tough time adjusting to indoor this year, but she has come out of the gates strong in outdoor with two big PR's," Coach Ryan said. "That's exciting! It's a result of her not getting down on herself and embracing challenges; always a good sign for any freshman."

The women's relays also took home first place results with Bean, Jones, Haven, and Moody furthering their NCAA provisional qualifier time in the 4x100m. They beat out six other squads by way of a 46.03. In the 4x400m, it was Scott teaming with Haven, Bean, and Moody for a 3:45.96 which got them another provisional qualifying mark in addition to besting seven other teams.

On the men's side, Edwards came on strong in the 400m, topping 38 others for a first place result. He powered to a 46.42, a NCAA provisional qualifier, which is now second on the program's all-time list behind Shaquille Howard who had a solid race as well. Howard finished third with a time of 47.36, but it was Edwards' performance that cut over half a second off the previous meet record.

"Jordan had a mysteriously tough performance at indoor NCAA's, but it's obvious that he is using that to fuel him for outdoor," Coach Ryan said. "This was a great way to come back! Today's performance is a true representation of who he is."

In the triple jump, Panford built on his nation-leading mark with a 51-10.5 distance. The mark resoundingly passed the previous meet best of 49-2.5 which had held up since 2006.

"Eddie is stepping up nicely and his role is so critical for us right now," Coach Ryan said. "He is tough and getting better every week. His work come NCAA's will be critical for the men's team."

A new program record came from Marlon Britton in the 110m hurdles (15.03) which was followed not far behind by Quinlan Wright's 15.09. Wright would also take second of 21 in the 400mH for a new season best. A top 10 finish was turned in by Ronald Spears, Jr. in the 100m dash who went 10.81 for ninth of 53 while Alexander McNally got himself into the upper tier in the 200m dash.

Like the women, the men's relays were also highly competitive as the 4x100m team of Spears, Jr., Edwards, Britton, and McNally furthered their NCAA provisional qualifier with a 40.82 that put them third of 12 teams at the meet. In the 4x400m, Spears, Jr. combined with Edwards, Howard, and Wright for a second place result of 13 squads, going 3:15.79.


San Francisco, CA – Closer to home than Sacramento, the SF State Johnny Mathis Invitational was attended primarily by the ART U distance squad and it was NCAA Cross Country Regional qualifiers Nicolas Rifflard and Kaelyn Harbison who led the way.

The men's highlights included RIfflard's first place finish of 32 competitors in the 1500m and a third place time of 24 in the 800m. Rifflard went 3:53.90 for the best performance in the 1500m, a race he ran along with Jack Nevins, Temarius Walker, Logan Means, and Nicholas Alexander. In the 800m, Rifflard posted a 1:55.26 with Means joining him in the top 10.

Harbison was in the same events on the women's side and she would place eighth of 55 in the 1500m with a mark of 4:40.96. It was her season best to date and vaults her up to second on the program's all-time list. In the 800m, Harbison captured fifth out of 35, sporting a time of 2:17.43 to pace teammates Elizabeth Khuu, Kayla Pritchett, and Madeline Dignadice. Pritchett was also in a smaller contingent in the 400m, but snagged third thanks to a 58.48 mark.

"Johnny Mathis was a great competition and I was happy to see a number of our distance runners getting out there and competing with their fields," associate head coach Torrey Olson said. "We had a win from Nicolas Rifflard in the 1500 with a strong last lap as well as heat wins from Kaelyn Harbison in the 1500 (and a seven second PR) and Temarius Walker in the 1500, also running a PR. The next few weeks hold some important training for us and I'm excited as we get into the heart of the outdoor season."

Next week, Academy of Art will be in another split schedule with the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays (Mar. 27-29) and San Diego State's Aztec Invitational (Mar. 28-29) on tap.