2016 Hornet Invitational ResultsSACRAMENTO, Calif. – With the slate clean following the conclusion of its indoor season, Academy of Art University track & field had much to prove at Sacramento State's Hornet Invitational on Saturday inside Hornet Stadium. And after a handful of NCAA Nationals provisional qualifiers and multiple new program records, the Urban Knights took their first steps toward a memorable outdoor campaign.
"The conditions and competition were great at Sac State today and the athletes rose to the challenge," said director of track & field/cross country
Torrey Olson. "A lot of the people who just missed Indoor Nationals or didn't have the performance they wanted during indoors came out with a vengeance to start outdoors. We had strong early-season performances across the board with program records, personal bests, and several provisional qualifiers."
The day's first set of races would foreshadow what was to come as
Valentin Pepiot dropped a 3:47.82 for a NCAA Nationals provisional qualifying time and a new school record in the 1500m.
Pierre Fontanarosa also posted a provisional time in fifth place with a 3:51.28 mark. That tandem would later join
Joshua Browne in the 800m where Pepiot once again made school history with a time of 1:51.23 also good for another provisional qualifier.
Roman Skovronski claimed third in a 27-man field of the 400m hurdles, running not only his own personal best, but the second-lowest mark to date in ART U history at 53.00.
Keanna Moody opened her outdoor season with a provisional 55.02 in the 400m dash while
Schae Graham crossed the line at 56.00 for a new personal best and third all-time. The tandem both finished within the top seven of 50 including Moody who took second overall.
In the men's 100m dash,
Alexander McNally kicked off outdoor with personal best of 10.78, moving him up to fifth all-time in program history behind pairs of athletes at 10.32 and 10.64. He also completed the 200m dash, taking fourth of 60 with a 21.89.
The women's 200m featured
Jasmine Grace at the forefront for Academy of Art with her tie for 13th overall out of 64 and a time of 25.59.
From the jumps squad,
Craig Mattox took second in the long jump with a 24-00.75 (7.33m) and earned a provisional qualifier. The triple jump saw
Johnnie Young achieve his best mark of the year at 47-2.25 (14.38m), move into fourth on the ART U all-time list.
Saturday ended late into the evening with each gender's 4x400m relay. Moody,
Mistic Scott,
Dierra Haven and
Schae Graham contended with NCAAA Division I Stanford and would go on to set the relays' first provisional mark at 3:44.23. They are now third in program history. For the men, Skovronski, McNally,
Quinlan Wright, and
Thomas Benson also went head-to-head with Stanford and produced a 3:18.89 in the 4x400m replay.
Other notables from the day were the first collegiate 5000m for
Jarred Gregory-Grimes. He and
Brett Bermudez both finished in the top 18 of a 50-man field. Benson ran a season-best 51.19 in the 400m.
Ashley Brown led for much of her 800m heat and would finish with a new personal record of 2:21.78, improving upon her previous time by nearly three full seconds.
The Urban Knights are back in action on Saturday, Mar. 19 for Sacramento State's Hornet Invitational then finish the month with the Pepsi Florida Relays and SF State Distance Carnival (both Mar. 31-Apr. 2).
