2015 Nebraska Tune-Up ResultsLINCOLN, Neb. – Making a quick transition from last weekend's bi-coastal competition in Seattle and Boston, ART U Track & Field made Friday's Nebraska Tune-Up a rather memorable experience. The women's 4x400m relay became #1 in the country, the men's 4x4 leapt into NCAA Division II's top eight with a program record, and
Marlon Britton dropped another historical mark in the 60m hurdles.
"I was really impressed with the mental toughness that so many of our kids showed today!" said head coach
Charles Ryan. "We had a terrible week and the majority of the team took four flights in less than 24 hours just to get home from Boston and then here to Nebraska. For them to deal with all that and come together for these performances was fantastic!"
In the men's 60mH, Britton did something no Urban Knight has done before: run sub-8.00. He claimed second out of 19 competitors with a 7.99 which not only serves as a new program record, but also puts him back into the country's elite in the event. He sits at ninth in NCAA Division II currently.
"Marlon just continues to improve," said Ryan. "He ran a pretty clean race today, far better technically than he has been and it paid off. With all the travel and lack of practice this week, what he did was pure guts and I love that about him. He jump-started the meet for everyone."
It was both sides of the 4x400m relays that finished ART U's day with an exclamation mark. The quartet of
Mistic Scott,
Chante Sneed,
Schae Graham, and
Keanna Moody put together a 3:45.51 which rockets them to the top of all qualifiers in NCAA DII this season. They finished second only to Division I Nebraska in a competition featuring 13 teams.
"The relays were clearly the major story today," said Ryan. "The women didn't need a qualifier, but they wanted to make a statement and they most definitely accomplished that feat."
On the men's side, it was
Roman Skovronski,
Jordan Edwards,
James Steptoe, and
Shaquille Howard who combined for a 3:13.91 which is a new program best to date. This group placed second in a field of 15, topping Lincoln (Mo.) and numerous others in the process.
"The men's 4x400 has been missing all season and their backs were against the wall today," said Ryan. "It was a simple message: step up or step off. They pulled together and made it happen. I am very proud of them; each man put their pain aside, focused, and went out and raced for each other. You don't see that happen too often in this game, but when you do you know it's the start of something special."
Moody was also strong in both of her individual events as she won the 400m with the lone sub-56.00 time, going 55.71 and besting 31 others in the process. She dropped a new lifetime best in the 200m with a 24.75 to claim second of 29 in that event.
The men's 400m belonged to an Urban Knight as well with Skovronski's 48.59 topping 30 others.
Academy of Art has one final meet, the Seattle Pacific Final Qualifier (Feb. 28), before the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships will take place Mar. 12-14 back in Birmingham.
"The regular season is over and now it's all about sharpening for the NCAA run," said Ryan. "For the first time in school history, both genders have a chance to make some real noise as a team and we couldn't be more excited about that."
