2016 Mt. SAC Relays Results
2016 Beach Invitational Results

Academy of Art University track & field wrapped up its Southern California trip with another collection of impressive performances at the Mt. SAC Relays and Long Beach State's Beach Invitational on Saturday.

NORWALK, Calif. – The Urban Knights' third day in the Mt. SAC Relays at Cerritos College was highlighted by Valentin Pepiot's 5000m run. Dropping over 20 seconds off his previous best, Pepiot placed first of 78 with a new ART U record 14:00.28. The time would be number one in the country at DII coming into the weekend.

"For only his third time running a 5k, Val ran almost to perfection and had a very mature race," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "He was rewarded with a commanding victory and handled himself well. It was a good experience toward Nationals for him."

The quartet of Roman Skovronski, Shaquille Howard, Mobolade Ajomale, and Alexander McNally debuted with a NCAA provisional 3:12.96 in the 4x400m. Supported by a hometown crowd, Howard broke out for a 37.9 leg in the relay as the group moves up to ninth in the country.

In the men's mile, Pierre Fontanarosa and Kris Everett went 4:20.31 and 4:22.54 for second and third place respectively. 

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Virtually all Urban Knights not competing in the Mt. SAC Relays completed the weekend at the Beach Invitational hosted by LBSU at Jack Rose Track.

Season-bests came from a pair of ART U long jumpers with Craig Mattox and Johnny Carter both placing among the top 20 in the country. Mattox offered a 24-3.5 (7.40m) for seventh of 43 in the event and Carter was just two places behind in ninth at 23-9 (7.24m). Both were NCAA DII Nationals provisional marks.

Following up his stellar 100m time at Mt. SAC one day prior, Ajomale was able to beat out 76 others to place first in the event at the Beach Invitational, going 10.35 for the individual victory.

In the first 100m dash of her collegiate career, Rian Young-Werner went 12.31 to debut at fourth on the program's all-time list.

After running career-bests in the women's 800m at the Bryan Clay Invitational, Kaelyn Harbison and Ashley Brown were once again strong in the event at Beach. Harbison went 2:16.36 and Brown came in at 2:17.46.

"Both Kaelyn and Ashley have been working hard on the distance side," said Olson. "They competed well, running lifetime bests on Friday and then following it up with solid times today. They didn't make concessions and have shown they are ready to compete at conference. Both of them have become very consistent."

As the outdoor season moves into its later stages, ART U looks ahead to the Brutus Hamilton Open, Distance Carnival, and Challenge spanning Apr. 22-23 in Berkeley.