FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- With the goal of peaking in March very much in mind,
Academy of Art University track & field showed progress toward that end on Friday at the Northern Arizona Tune-Up inside J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome. The meet was filled with personal bests from individuals such as
Alexander McNally (200m),
Craig Mattox (LJ), and
Keanna Moody (60m).
"We had a few more NCAA provisional qualifiers and a few personal bests," said head coach
Kevin LaSure. "Today we got a little better all around. Now we have a few more weeks to fine tune things before the NCAA Championships and hopefully we can be at our best for those."
Jordan Edwards came away the winner of an 18-man 200m dash with a season-best 21.34 to join him with Ajomale both in NCAA DII's top five now. Also in Saturday's event, McNally dropped a new career-best of 21.78 to provisionally qualify for NCAA Nationals and make him third in program history.
In the 60m dash,
Mobolade Ajomale once again sped to a 6.65 and finished second only to Arizona State's Jamol James who matched Ajomale's career-best with a 6.63. Edwards dropped a personal record 6.79 to bring him into the country's top 12 among DII in the event.
Edwards wasn't ART U's only individual event winner on Saturday as
Craig Mattox finished on top of the long jump, soaring to season-best 24-5.75 (7.46m). He vaults to eighth in NCAA DII while
Johnny Carter offered a season-best 24-1.5 (7.35m) to crack the country's top 10.
The women's 60m dash featured a new career-best from Keanna moody (7.74) while
Schae Graham and
Mistic Scott both bettered their
DII provisional marks in the 400m, going 56.20 and 56.70 respectively.
Amanda Odesjo produced a new personal record in the long jump, flying to 18-1.5 (5.52m) and finishing sixth of 23 at the meet.
The Urban Knights' final opportunity to qualify for NCAA Nationals will be at the Boston University Last Chance Meet on Feb. 27. That day will also feature ART U's first outdoor meet of 2016, SF State's Johnny Mathis Invitational.