2015 New Mexico Classic Results

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – ART U Track & Field came out of two days of the New Mexico Classic with additional NCAA Nationals provisional qualifiers and personal records. Most notably was Jordan Edwards' new personal record in the 60m as well as Keanna Moody's PRs in the 200m and 400m.

"We had a few seasonal and lifetime bests this weekend, always a good thing that you like to see as a coach," said head coach Charles Ryan. "In the end as a whole, it was a weekend of hard lessons and hopefully both the men's and women's teams will grow from."

Steadily improving in the 400m, Moody showed how strong a she has become, dropping a 55.12 to best the 55.23 she delivered last February. She would best sprinters from Abeline Christian as well as one from LSU in the process. Moody showed quite a bit of resolve in her 200m as well, going 24.77 for a new PR that significantly improved her mark as a NCAA provisional qualifier.

Atiya Harvey was also in action in the 200m and crossed the finish line 28th out of 101 sprinters with a time of 24.67. The mark bettered her season-best and should keep her in the country's top 10. Harvey also joined Amanda Odesjo in the 60m dash, an event that saw them both place in the top half. Harvey posted a 7.63 and Odesjo was solid with a 7.92 for her new PR.

"Amanda Odesjo has been working to get her sprint times down and going sub-eight seconds in the 60m was the first of many benchmarks I think she can deliver this season," said Ryan.

Making her debut in the 60m hurdles, Rachael O'Neil opened with an 8.85 which was just on the edge of provisionally qualifying her for Nationals.

"Rachel O'Neil ran a nice prelim race in the 60mH," said Ryan. "She is a person we will need to step up if the team is going to make any real noise indoors. She has a very strong tradition to live up to here in the hurdles and, if she continues to work on her technique, she can evoke into a sting national caliber performer."

On the men's side, Edwards had a very strong performance in the 60m on Saturday, going 6.82 for a new PR as an Urban Knight. He placed 10th of 42 in the event and earned a provisional qualifying time in his first time running the event this season. Edwards would also team up with Roman Skovronski, James Steptoe, and Alexander McNally for a 3:17.82 in the 4x400m relay which is now third on the program's all-time list.

Marlon Britton placed ninth of 21 in the 60m hurdles, going 8.21. And, on Friday, the men's team saw two sub-49.30 marks from James Steptoe (49.15) and Skovronski (49.29) in the 400m. Shaquille Howard also made his season debut, offering a 22.26 in the 200m.

The teams will split coasts next weekend as some athletes will head to the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University while the others will be at the University of Washington's Husky Classic both on Feb. 13-14.

"We have a really big opportunity next week on both the East and West Coasts," said Ryan. "We will go head to head with a lot of people we will see at NCAA's and the Boston University Track is legendary for quality performances. The people who earn the spots on that trip really need to capitalize on it. The distance crew will make its full debut up in Seattle and were expecting our Distance Medley Relay's to make their presence known. They have been working very hard and I'm excited to see how it all plays out."