2013 UTEP Invitational Results

El Paso, TX – Moving past the halfway mark in the season with strong performances at the UTEP Invitational, Academy of Art University Track & Field had nearly all members of its men's and women's teams competing Saturday. Some of the highlights out at Kidd Field were a new women's program record in the 100m dash, 400m, and 4x100m relay (also NCAA automatic qualifier), as well as another week of solid marks in the sprints from sophomore Jaylon Hicks.

Beginning with the women, freshman Keanna Moody continued to drop her time in the 400m dash, posting a 55.49 on this occasion to set another Urban Knights school record. She would place 4th out of 19 competitors and now moves into the Top 15 in NCAA Division II as still a NCAA Championships provisional qualifier.

On Saturday, junior Dinesha Bean made a major improvement on her time in the 100m dash at the Sun Angel Classic one week ago. Capturing 4th of 23 in the race, Bean delivered an 11.79 mark which serves as a new ART U record once again in addition to being an NCAA Nationals provisional qualifier.

In the horizontal jumps, senior Vashti Thomas posted a 21-2 (6.45m) for the long jump and a 40-4 (12.29m) as a competitor in the triple jump. She finished second in both events, dominating the top jumpers from UTEP in the process. Freshman Jasmin Guinn offered a new personal best in the long jump (17-5.25, 5.31m) as well.

Bean and Thomas would join seniors Julian Purvis and Briana Stewart in the women's 4x100m relay for a spectacular outing. The quartet was challenged by the UTEP team, but Academy of Art prevailed in the end for 1st of seven with a new program record 44.79 in hand. Though a slightly modified group of four, the time produced by the Knights was still an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships in May.

As one might expect, the hurdle events were also particularly strong for ART U as Purvis nearly eclipsed her season-best time in the 100mH last week. This time around, she came in at 13.41, taking 2nd of 18. Senior Dominique Berry captured 2nd of 13 in the 400m hurdles with her own personal best as an Urban Knight (1:01.72) and a NCAA provisional qualifier.


For the men, sophomore Jaylon Hicks was on top of his game for the second consecutive week. He sped to a 10.54 in the 100m dash, picking up 5th overall of 25 in the process. He positioned himself right between two UTEP sprinters. In the 200m, Hicks collected 13th of 37 with his 21.39 mark. Redshirt freshman Shaquille Howard was also solid in that event, going 21.91 for 21st overall.

Academy of Art will split next weekend over two Southern California meets, Mt. SAC Relays (Apr. 19-20) and the Beach Invitational (Apr. 20).