2019 Cal State East Bay Invitational Results
HAYWARD, Calif. – Saturday brought not only warmth and sunshine, but also numerous dominant efforts from Academy of Art in the Cal State East Bay Invitational at Chabot College. Out of 13 total first place finishes for the Urban Knights, a NCAA Division II Nationals provisional in the women's 4x100m and various lifetime-bests were among the highlights along with
Michane Ricketts' program records in the shot put and discus throw.
Beginning the day with the women's 5000m, ART U had a pair of runners take the top two spots with
Audrey Rosencrans and
Chandler Johnson at the front of the pack throughout. Rosencrans delivered a time of 17:55.32 which put her fourth in program history and Johnson crossed the finish line at 18:01.01 for the leaders of an 18-competitor field.
Both 100m dashes featured several Urban Knights not only in the prelims, but in the final as well. For the women,
Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye led all 28 sprinters with a 12.16 out of the prelim and she would be joined by
Darria Matthias,
Allysia Parry,
Hava Turner, and
Mia Avila in the final. Four would improve their times as Minkue Meye claimed the runner-up spot with a 12.08 followed by Matthias (12.14), Turner (12.25), and Parry (12.30).
The men's 100m was paced by
Arrun Palacio whose 11.11 led the 41-man prelim. He would make it to the final along with
Grant Swinton,
Ashony Williams, and
Christian Carter. Palacio once again had the best showing in the second round of races, finishing second with a lifetime-best 10.91.
Many of the same individuals who had qualified to the 100m finals were in action as part of ART U's 4x100m. The women had Avila, Minkue Meye, Turner, Matthias get way out in front of the competition for a first-place finish with a nationally-significant time of 46.35. It served as a season-best for Academy of Art, a Nationals provisional, and tied for 11th in DII thus far.
On the men's side, it was Swinton,
Mobolade Ajomale, Carter, and Palacio who, despite placing first of six teams on the day, ended just 0.01 shy of the Nationals provisional standard at 41.10.
Three of those four men were also among the competitors in the 400m dash which was won by Ajomale. His time of 47.22 was a mere 0.03 off his lifetime-best and put him eighth in NCAA Division II with a Nationals provisional qualifier in his first time running the event this season. The Knights were top-heavy in the final results as Carter took second (48.30),
Roshard Williams emerged with a gutty lifetime-best 48.64, and Swinton came across in fourth (48.74).
It was also many of the same names appearing in the 200m with Matthias going 24.67 for second of 29 followed by Parry and
Latavia Hawkins at three and four. Swinton placed first of 51 in the men's 200m with a time of 21.90 while Carter came through at third overall.
In his ART U debut in each event, it was not one but two program records for Ricketts in the shot put and discus throw. His best throw in the shot put went 37-8.75 (11.50m) to better the previous record (set in 2013) by well over a full foot. In the discus throw, Ricketts completed a distance of 119-9 (36.51m) which again smashed a six-year-old record.
On top of his sprint success, Palacio won both horizontal jumps on Saturday as well. He claimed first of 19 in the long jump with a new lifetime-best 22-7.25 (6.89m) and had the farthest distance of nine (46-2.5/14.08m) in the triple jump. A season-best came for Ricketts in the long jump as well as he bettered his mark from the Florida Relays with a 21-10.75 (6.67m) at Chabot.
The women's long jump also had an Academy of Art first-place finisher in
Camille Jouanno whose 17-4.75 (5.30m) won by nearly a foot and a half. Jouanno also placed first of nine in the 100m hurdles.
Continuing the top placements for the Urban Knights, Hawkins took the win in the 400m dash after a season-best 57.52.
Hasna Kaarour came away first out of 34 in the 800m, sporting a time of 2:15.56 that was not far from her lifetime-best (2:15.32).
Remaining in the front pack for the entirety of the 800m,
Freddie Hessian and
Charlie Messai were the top finishers for Academy of Art at fourth (1:54.16) and fifth (1:55.11) respectively out of 34. The ART U distance crew was also represented by two top three results in the 1500m with
Ashley Brown's lifetime-best 4:42.89 getting her third of 55 and
Joshua Browne's lifetime-best 4:00.48 earning him second of 44.
Making her collegiate track & field debut,
Celena Davison came over from the Urban Knights' volleyball team to compete in the 100m hurdles, long jump, and triple jump. Her highest placement was in the final of those three after she delivered a distance of 32-4.75 (9.87m) for fourth overall.
Academy of Art looks ahead to a busy week of action in its final tune-up before the Pacific West Conference Championships. The majority of the ART U squad will travel to Southern California for the Bryan Clay Invitational (Apr. 17-19) and Mt. SAC Relays (Apr. 19-20) while others will contest Stanford's Cardinal Classic (Apr. 19-20).
