2016 Pacific West Conference Track & Field Championships Results (Day 1)
AZUSA, Calif. – A busy start to the 2016 Pacific West Track & Field Championships included two medalists, one program record in the men's 10,000m, and nearly 30 Academy of Art University athletes qualify through to Friday's finals.
Craig Mattox came out of Thursday's action the conference men's long jump champion,
McKaela Christenson pushed for a bronze medal in the women's 10,000m, and
Brett Bermudez gutted out a new ART U record to close the night inside Cougar Stadium.
The day began with a morning session featuring
Briaunna Caver in four heptathlon events – 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200m. She would win the shot put (10.80m, 35-5.25) and tie for second in the high jump (1.44m, 4-8.75), achieving personal records in both events. At the conclusion of the day, Caver found herself third, but only 24 points out of second place. She would return later to throw a season-best 93-11 (28.62m) in the javelin, not as part of the heptathlon.
As the afternoon session began, the men's long jump was first up. Mattox was battling Azusa Pacific's Miles Poullard down the stretch and it was not until the final jump that the narrative changed. Saving his best for last, Mattox moved into first overall with a jump of 23-11 (7.29m). This would be the second PacWest Conference individual long jump title and All-PacWest First Team honor for Academy of Art following All-American Edgar Panford's efforts in 2014.
The women's long jump was filled with Urban Knights and not surprisingly three made the final eight.
Rian Young-Werner ended up taking fourth overall with a season-best jump of 18-2.75 (5.56m) while
Jasmin Guinn was not far behind in fifth (season-best 17-11.25, 5.47m) and
Amanda Odesjo finished seventh.
With the day's progression, ART U took care of business, qualifying 29 individuals from Thursday's prelims to Friday's finals. In the women's 400m dash, a quartet of Knights moving on included
Keanna Moody (first with a time of 55.86),
Mistic Scott (third),
Schae Graham (fourth), and
Dierra Haven (sixth). On the men's side,
Mobolade Ajomale led the way with a first place finish (48.42) followed by
Shaquille Howard in second and
Roman Skovronski in third.
The 100m dash featured four individuals from each gender including Odesjo who dropped a new personal best of 12.26 for fourth of 14. She was followed by Young-Werner, Moody, and
Jasmine Grace in sixth through eighth respectively. The men once again had a number one seed out of the prelim with Ajomale going 10.52 followed by
Alexander McNally (second), Mattox (fifth), and
Marlon Britton (sixth).
In the women's 800m, the tandem of
Ashley Brown and
Kaelyn Harbison qualified for the finals as the fifth and sixth seeds respectively each with times hovering around 2:18.00 while a trio made the men's final.
Valentin Pepiot claimed first heading in with a 1:54.73 and was followed by
Austin Murray (sixth) and
Kris Everett (eighth).
The men's 400m hurdles had ART U send the holders of its top two times in program history, Skovronski and
Quinlan Wright, into the final as the one and three seed respectively. Skovronski finished his prelim at 53.84.
Wrapping up the prelims was a total of seven Urban Knights among the 200m dash finalists (four women, three men). Moody led the way once more with a 24.94 for the second seed and she was closely followed by Grace (third), Young-Werner (fifth), and Scott (eighth). For the men, the top three belonged to Academy of Art with Ajomale snagging first (21.65), McNally second, and Howard third.
As the sun set and a cool darkness came over the stadium, the distance runners emerged. The potential drama of running under the lights was met in each of the 10k races, beginning with Christenson in the women's competition. The sophomore started out at the front of the pack and, for three-quarters of the race, a solid group of three continued to jostle for consistent position. In the end, 23 seconds separated them, but Christenson held on for a 38:22.39, earning her All-PacWest Third Team honors and a bronze medal.
The men's 10,000m race also had a trio formulate at the front of the 13-man field, and while Bermudez was not among that group, he fought through fatigue, rallied late, and made a strong push in the end to claim the new Academy of Art record with a time of 32:29.13.
The Urban Knights will return to Cougar Stadium on Friday with great potential to score points and rise in the team rankings. Caver will get started with the final three heptathlon events at 10 a.m. and the remaining events beginning at 2 p.m.
